Category: MLB

Welcome to week 4 of our 2026 NL Central Power Rankings — let’s rank some teams!

1. Cincinnati Reds (14-8); 5-1 this week; 25.8% chance to make postseason (FanGraphs)

The Reds had a great week against a couple of inferior opponents. They started things by taking two of three against the Giants at home before sweeping the Twins in Minnesota over the weekend.

Sal Stewart led the Reds offense with three homers this week, driving in a team-high eight runs. Eugenio Suárez led the squad with seven hits, including a homer and two doubles, driving in three and scoring four runs.

It wasn’t a crazy outstanding week on the pitching side, as no players finished with more than four strikeouts (though five did have four apiece). Chase Burns had the best start of the week, going six scoreless frames with no runs allowed on two hits and a walk, striking out four. Brandon Williamson allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings with a pair of strikeouts. The bullpen was solid as a group, allowing just four runs (one earned) across 20 1/3 innings.

Cincinnati continues the road trip in Tampa Bay to begin this week, as they’ll take on the Rays for three games. After an off day Thursday, they’ll host the Tigers at home over the weekend.

2. St. Louis Cardinals (13-8); 5-1 this week; 15.8% chance to make postseason

The Cardinals extended their losing streak to three on Monday with a loss to the Guardians, but they haven’t lost since, instead rattling off five straight wins over Cleveland and the Astros over the weekend.

Iván Herrera and JJ Wetherholt each slugged a pair of homers, and five others players added a homer each. Wetherholt had six hits this week, driving in six, scoring seven runs, and swiping a base. Alec Burleson led the offense with nine hits this week, including a homer and three doubles, while Jordan Walker added seven hits and Masyn Winn had eight hits in a great week overall offensively for the Redbirds.

Dustin May and Andre Pallante each picked up a win in their starts this week, as May went six innings with one run allowed and four strikeouts, and Pallante went five innings with one run allowed and five strikeouts. Riley O’Brien collected a pair of wins and a pair of saves in four outings this week, going four scoreless innings with a team-high six strikeouts.

The Cards now hed to Miami to face the Marlins for three games before an off day on Thursday. They then return home for a quick three-game homestand series against the Mariners.

3. Chicago Cubs (12-9); 5-1 this week; 56.9% chance to make postseason

The Cubs had a nearly identical week to the Cards, dropping Monday’s game against the Phillies before picking up five consecutive wins over Philadelphia and the lowly Mets this weekend, extending New York’s losing streak to 11 games.

Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, Carson Kelly, and Dansby Swanson each slugged a pair of homers this week, with Hoerner leading the squad with nine hits. He also drove in 11 and swiped a pair of bases. Alex Bregman added seven hits — all singles — and Matt Shaw had five hits, four of which were doubles.

Shota Imanaga showed out in his start, picking up the win as he went six innings, allowing one run on three hits and a walk, striking out a team-high 11 batters. Caleb Thielbar picked up a win and a save across three scoreless appearances, spanning 2 2/3 innings with five strikeouts. Jameson Taillon also tossed six innings of one-run ball, striking out four as he picked up the win. Corbin Martin, Riley Martin, Hoby Milner, and Ryan Rolison also had scoreless weeks for the ‘pen.

Chicago stays home as they’ll host the Phillies for four games, their second series against them in two weeks. They’ll then head west to face the Dodgers and Padres beginning this weekend.

4. Pittsburgh Pirates (13-9); 4-3 this week; 59.1% chance to make postseason

The Pirates had a slightly down week after starting the month red-hot, as they alternated wins and losses over seven games against the Nationals (2-2) and Rays (2-1) this week.

Spencer Horwtiz, Brandon Lowe, and Marcell Ozuna each had a pair of homers for Pittsburgh this week, with Lowe also driving in a team-high nine runs, adding a pair of doubles and scoring five runs. Ozuna led the team with 10 hits in 26 at-bats (.385 batting average), while Oneil Cruz, Joey Bart, Ryan O’Hearn, and Nick Yorke added a homer each. Konnor Griffin also picked up eight hits, driving in four and swiping three bases.

Paul Skenes turned in a pair of strong starts, spanning 10 innings with one run allowed (a solo homer) and 11 strikeouts. Bubba Chandler picked up a win in his outing, going six innings with one run allowed and three strikeouts. Carmen Mlodzinski went six innings after the opener, allowing no runs and striking out five. Justin Lawrence, Isaac Mattson, Mason Montgomery, and Gregory Soto all had scoreless weeks as well.

The Pirates get the day off today, and they’ll then take a six-game road trip to visit the Rangers and Brewers this week.

5. Milwaukee Brewers (12-9); 4-2 this week; 43.6% chance to make postseason

In pretty much any other division, a 4-2 week and 12-9 overall record would get you at least a top-three, if not top-two spot in the division (and the power rankings). Unfortunately, the Brewers play in the NL Central, where all five teams had a winning week and have a winning record through nearly a month of play. Milwaukee bounced back after a six-game losing streak to win four in a row over the Blue Jays and Marlins before dropping Sunday’s series finale in Miami.

Milwaukee’s home run leaders, Jake Bauers, Gary Sánchez, and Brice Turang, each added a homer to their season totals this week. Turang led the offense, slashing .304/.429/.478 as he extended his on-base streak to 19 games to begin the season. William Contreras added a team-high eight hits, including a pair of doubles.

Jacob Misiorowski had a pair of solid outings but no wins to show for it, as he totaled 10 1/3 innings with five runs allowed (just three earned), striking out 14. Brandon Sproat had his best start as a Brewer, going 6 2/3 innings with one run allowed and six strikeouts, while Brandon Woodruff went seven frames with one run allowed and four strikeouts. Coleman Crow had a successful MLB debut, going 5 1/3 innings with two runs allowed and four strikeouts, and Chad Patrick added a quality start with 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball and a pair of strikeouts. Aaron Ashby added two more wins with two more scoreless appearances, striking out three over 1 1/3 innings, and Carlos Rodriguez tossed two scoreless innings to save the bullpen late on Sunday, striking out three.

The Brewers now head to Detroit, where they’ll enjoy a day off today before a three-game series starts Tuesday. The Crew then heads back home for a homestand that features the Pirates and D-backs.

Louisville Bats 2, Toledo Mud Hens 1 (box)

Toledo and Louisville combined for just nine hits in the series finale, and each team had just 32 plate appearances. Low-offense days mean good things for the pitching staff, but the Mud Hens haven’t fared well in these low-scoring games this weekend. Toledo dropped the series 4-3 with a 2-1 loss.

Both of Louisville’s runs came in the first inning off Sawyer Gipson-Long. Noelvi Marte and JJ Bleday hit a double and a two-run home run with two outs, and that ended up deciding the game. Both guys are no longer considered prospects, and Marte was recently demoted to Triple-A after 10 games with the Cincinnati Reds. If someone on the Bats is going to beat you, it’s going to be these two.

The good news is that Gipson-Long was better after that. He retired seven of the next eight batters he faced and induced a double play after allowing two consecutive baserunners in the fourth. The off-speed stuff worked well with Gipson-Long working a 50% whiff rate or better on his slider and changeup. The fastball remains hittable as his velocity hasn’t returned to pre-Tommy John levels yet. He ended the day with six of Toledo’s 10 strikeouts.

Drew Sommers got the sixth and started the seventh, but he was pulled after walking the leadoff man. Cole Waites cleaned things up despite hitting a batter, and Burch Smith went 1-2-3 in the eighth. Overall, it was a good day for the staff, but that first frame proved costly with little to no offensive support.

The Mud Hens struggled to string anything together against Davis Daniel Gage Workman singled in the first, and Ben Malgeri singled in the third after Max Burt walked. Max Clark stranded both runners in the third with a pop-up to second base. Jace Jung singled in the fourth, and that was it for a few innings. Daniel settled in and retired the next seven batters he faced. He ended the day with eight strikeouts and just the one walk to Burt through seven frames.

Lyon Richardson went 1-2-3 for Louisville in the eighth, but Toledo had a chance in the ninth against Luis Mey. Malgeri led off with a single, and Clark moved him to third with a 105.8 exit velocity base hit.

Workman did a job and brought in Malgeri with a sacrifice fly, but Eduardo Valencia and Jung couldn’t bring Clark around to extend the game.

It’s a bit rare to see minor league teams pitch this well in a series finale, but both teams were solid.

Clark: 1-4, 2 K

Malgeri: 2-4, R

Workman: 1-3, RBI, 2 K

Gipson-Long (L, 0-2): 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: Toledo is at home against Omaha next week, starting on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. ET.

Erie SeaWolves 9, Harrisburg Senators 5 (box)(Gm 1)

Erie’s suspended Saturday game first, which was left at a 1-1 tie in the top of the second. The SeaWolves added eight runs on as many hits on Sunday to beat Harrisburg, 9-5. (The Twitter admin might be a bit confused…)

Moises Rodriguez took over for Dariel Fregio, with two outs and two on, and struck out Cayden Wallace to keep Fregio’s line where he left it yesterday. Rodriguez returned for the third after a 1-2-3 frame for the offense and worked around a leadoff walk. So far, so good.

John Peck broke the tie in the third. He reached on a one-out double, stole third base and made his way home after an errant throw from Harrisburg’s catcher. Unfortunately, Colin Fields couldn’t hold that lead very long, as he gave up a three-run homer in the top of the fourth. Fields put himself in a jam with a one-out walk and hitting a batter before the big fly from Seaver King.

Fields didn’t make it out of the third, allowing another single and a two-out walk. Wandisson Charles had to clean things up for him.

The SeaWolves’ offense had Fields’ back, though. E.J. Exposito and Joe Campagna hit back-to-back doubles to make it a 4-3 game. Campagna scored on an Aaron Antonini groundout after advancing on a passed ball. Seth Stephenson tripled, and Peck homered to give Erie a two-run lead.

Both teams got on base in the fifth, but neither scored. Charles worked through the sixth inning for Erie, stranding a runner on third after allowing a double and balking. Peck scored again after singling, stealing, and a throwing error on a potential double-play ball. Justice Bigbie made it a four-run game with a sacrifice fly later in the sixth.

Yosber Sanchez struggled in the seventh, hitting the first batter he faced and walking the next. A single loaded up the bases, and Sanchez walked in a run before inducing a ground ball back to the mound and getting the first out at home on a force play. He struck out King before getting the hook, and Luke Taggart struck out Wallace to leave the bases loaded.

Taggart got the seven-out save, working around a leadoff error in the eighth. Peck added another run in the eighth with his second homer and fourth hit of the day. What a day for the former seventh-round pick after a bit of a sluggish start to the season.

Peck: 4-5, 2 HR (2), 2B (3), 4 R, 3 RBI, K, 2 SB (5)

Stephenson: 2-5, 3B (1), 2 R, 2 SB (11)

Taggart (S, 1): 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

(F/7) Harrisburg Senators 1, Erie SeaWolves 0 (box)(Gm 2)

Erie outhit Harrisburg, 5-2, over seven innings in the second half of the doubleheader, but the Senators scored the lone run of the game to take the win and the series 4-2.

The SeaWolves stranded all 10 baserunners in this one. Their best chance to score came in the third with Justice Bigbie up and the bases loaded, but he flied out to center. Bigbie had two hits in this game. He just couldn’t get it done when the team needed it most. Brett Callahan also left the bags full in the fourth after a pair of walks and a single from Peyton Graham. All five of Erie’s hits were singles. Brett Callahan and Peck’s base hits came in the third.

Sean Hunley took the loss as the starter. He went just two innings, but Harrisburg got to him in the second. Hunley walked the leadoff man and moved him to second on a wild pitch. A groundout and a fielder’s choice brought the run in. He loaded up the bases with another walk and a hit batter, but got out of the inning before any more damage was done.

Harrisburg only had one more baserunner for the rest of the day. Eric Silva was excellent in relief, allowing one hit over four innings. He only struck out a pair, but outs are outs. Tanner Kohlhepp went 1-2-3 in the seventh, but Erie didn’t have any offense over the final two frames.

Bigbie: 2-3

Silva: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

Coming Up Next: Erie is in Binghamton next week, starting Tuesday at 6:07 p.m. ET.

West Michigan Whitecaps 12, Lansing Lugnuts 4 (box)

West Michigan extended its win streak to seven games with a dominant 12-4 victory over the Lansing Lugnuts on Sunday.

The Whitecaps had eight hits and 11 walks in the series finale. Cristian Santana had the biggest hit of the day, with a grand slam in the second to open the scoring.

Lansing answered in the third with a pair of runs off Gabriel Reyes, but those came on the only two hits he gave up all day. Reyes had some command issues with four walks, so he left in the fourth with two outs.

West Michigan put up a three-spot in the fifth, scoring all of those runs on an Andrew Sojka home run. Sojka led the team with three hits on the day.

Juan Hernandez scored and Samuel Gil scored in the seventh. Gil reached on a double, but both came across the plate on walks. Lansing gave up five free passes in the inning, between two pitchers.

Inohan Paniagua was good for 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Reyes. He struck out three and didn’t give up a walk or hit — Paniagua did hit a batter, though. Carlos Lequerica took over in the seventh. Lansing got to him for two runs on four hits and a walk, most of which came in the eighth.

The Lugnuts had three straight hits off him before recording an out in the eighth, but Lequerica had plenty of cushion to work with. He still walked in a run, which isn’t great.

Nolan McCarthy and Hunter Dobbins both doubled in insurance runs in the ninth for good measure. Weins closed things out in the bottom of the ninth.

West Michigan is cruising right now, but Lansing’s pitching staff didn’t help itself out in any way.

Santana: 2-4, HR (2), 5 RBI, BB

Sojka: 3-4, HR (2), 3 R, 3 RBI, BB

Paniagua (W, 1-0): 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps are at home next week against Lake County, starting Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. ET.

Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 5, Lakeland Flying Tigers 0 (box)

Lakeland put up a goose egg against Fort Myers, dropping the series finale to end things in a 3-3 tie on the week.

Alistair Tanner took the loss, giving up three runs over two innings. He had a nice debut a few weeks ago, but things haven’t been great for him since. Tanner balked in a run in the first, and three walks and a two-out base hit led to two more in the second.

Jatnk Diaz was mostly fine in relief for three innings, but a leadoff error from Jack Goodman at shortstop led to an unearned run crossing in the third.

The Flying Tigers didn’t record a base hit until the fifth, when Beau Anekeney led off with a single. The next three batters struck out, and then Ankeney struck out in the sixth with the bases loaded. Carson Rucker and Zach MacDonald had leadoff singles in the seventh and ninth, respectively, but that’s pretty much all the offense did on Sunday.

Jan Carabello pitched the sixth and seventh for Lakeland. He gave up a run on two hits and two walks in the sixth before working around a one-out walk in the seventh. Andrew Pogue worked around a leadoff walk in the eighth.

This was a pretty boring game aside from a few defensive gems. Thayron Liranzo only had two at-bats, being replaced midway through the game for a pinch runner.

Liranzo: 0-1, BB, K

Diaz: 3.0 IP, 3 H, R, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

Coming Up Next: Lakeland is at home against Tampa next week, starting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. ET

I think it is fair to say that the Cardinals have been a surprise. Certainly to everybody else, but even among more optimistic Cardinals fans, I think their start has been unexpected. Now, it is baseball. Bad teams can have good 20-game stretches and the Cardinals do have a -8 run differential. On the surface, if you had told me the Cardinals would be 13-8 with a -8 run differential, I don’t think it would be THAT surprising.

What is perhaps more surprising is that it looks a little more real than one might assume. Sure, the Cardinals aren’t going to go 100-62 (what 13-8 is on pace for), and I question the sustainability of them playing this well of course. But I genuinely think they look like kind of a good team, with the exception of the bullpen. The bullpen is why the run differential is negative.

They are lucky to be 13-8, because they keep winning the close games, but they’re also close games because the bullpen keeps making them close games. From a long-term standpoint, this is best case scenario. When the Cardinals are officially in “We’re trying to win” territory, there’s a good chance none of the members of this bullpen will be here. That’s the nature of bullpens.

Basically, regardless of how this season ends up turning out, it has stopped feeling like a rebuild for me. Unlike the bullpen, the vast majority of their current lineup will still be here when the Cardinals are trying to win officially. You’re not supposed to have that part figured out already.

“It doesn’t really feel like a rebuild,” Masyn Winn said.  “Obviously we got rid of some of our big names, but I mean we still have a good young core of guys.  Those are guys we can build around.  I’m hoping I can be here long enough to see the benefits of this transition.  There’s four or five guys that could come out and just have a crazy year.  They do that, other guys do what they’re supposed to do, and we’re right there.  It’s not like we were 20 games under .500 last year, we were close.”

And this is something Chaim Bloom has been very clear about in interviews. They’re not writing this year off. Things could happen to speed this up. They simply are putting the long-term first, second, and third. Which means we won’t see bullpen help except internally.

“There is on some level even understanding – and I’ve tried to be very clear about this – that we are not prioritizing short term success over what needs to happen in long-term,” Bloom said.  “Even with that, my mindset is such that you’re never going to stop trying to win and there is some way by which you will always assess where you are by the standings.”

Having a young team and no expectations can be a huge benefit. There’s probably no egos, they understand the Cardinals will give them a legit shot, and they’re all fighting for their career.

“There are a lot of young guys who are hungry trying to make a name for themselves but also to bring a bunch of winning games back to St. Louis, like that’s what we’re trying to do,” JJ Wetherholt said.  “You can feel that as a young guy.”

It’s also helpful that everyone in the starting lineup is between 23 and 27 years old. In the starting rotation, everyone is between 25 and 28.

“I think everyone being the same age is honestly helpful,” Thomas Saggese said.  “We’re all in similar stages of our lives and we have a similar goal.  That’s what’s going to bring us together and propel us to being successful, just having that chemistry.  I think it might be easier to build that chemistry.” 

It’s the kind of youth that makes 27-year-old Alec Burleson the equivalent of the grizzled veteran on the team, even though he’s only had two full seasons under his belt. But he was given a similar chance to what a good number of young guys will get, so they will probably listen.

“I’m still trying to make adjustments in this league, so any of my experience that I can give to these guys and kind of show them the way or make their adjustment a little easier and seamless, that’s what I want to do,” Burleson said.

The Cardinals have some sort of given themselves a scrappy underdog status, and it’s not totally undeserved. But they were not expecting to blow teams away.

“We’re not going to be the long ball team,” Winn said.  “We all know that.  We’re going to go out there and be scrappy.  I’m actually excited.”

They’re actually tied for 8th in homers, so I’m guessing they’ve hit more homers so far than Winn expected. Although I’m also sure he expected to have a homer by now too I would assume. But the players had some expectation of winning, certainly competing in most games and not being an easy win for anyone.

“If there’s a standard set early and we can all abide by it – it’s not like rules or anything – there’s a certain way Cardinals play baseball and if we can all do it, it’ll work itself out,” Burleson said.  “I think that’s the way you kind of get these guys together.  You set a standard and you all kind of buy into it.”

You can tell communication in the organization is better, because Burleson says something like this before Bloom says this.

“Most players, especially young players, come into this hoping to establish themselves and hoping to be a part of something for a long time,” Bloom said. “I think it’s healthy, especially in an organization like this, when people are really looking at ‘what is that standard I’m expected to meet?’ in order to be a part of this.”

That can’t possibly be a coincidence. The message is getting passed down. You lay down what you think a player can do, you give them the tools and importantly the space to be able to do it, stick to the process, and things should work in your favor. And in keeping with that theme, the process on a broader scale dictates to stick to the plan. Okay the season is going better than expected – so far – but it’s not time to change the plans.

As weird as it sounds, there’s a bigger goal than doing well this particular season. Yes, it’s going to fun if this season does go well, but winning as many games as possible this year is not actually the goal.

“With respect to that bigger goal, regardless of the standings, regardless of what the win total, you want to see that core continue to take shape, continue to progress,” Bloom said.  “I would like to be able to look up at the end of the 2026 season and feel like that picture of what that group looks like and what it will continue to look like, whether that’s stuff that happens here at the major league, stuff that happens throughout the system, even stuff behind the curtain in the organization that’s going to be necessary for us to succeed over time and make really good acquisitions and really smart baseball decisions over time that is further ahead than where it was.”

The best part about the Cardinals being 13-8 is not that they’re 13-8. But that so far, the core does appear to be taking shape. Jordan Walker has catapulted himself into the core. Ivan Herrera somehow has disappointed with a .378 OBP, but his expected stats are waay better. Alec Burleson has more walks than strikeouts, which I would never think possible in a 95-game sample. After yesterday’s game, Masyn Winn is completely back with a 98 wRC+ and a lower BABIP.

Sure, the rest of the outfield not named Walker could be going better, and sure Nolan Gorman has been a mixed bag. Only Gorman really has the potential to be core though among this group and I’m not convinced he’s a part of the future plans even if he does bounce back. But things seem to be moving in the right direction.

“Honestly, I think the fans should be pretty excited,” Winn said.  “It might take a year, might take two, might be this year, but we’re heading in the right direction.”

And that’s what this year is about. Moving in the right direction. Identifying the future and then most likely shed the pieces that aren’t a part of that future for prospects, in other words, you’re trading for the future.

The buzz is there. Just in my personal life, the attitude among the fanbase has certainly shifted. I don’t think the vibes have been this good since the 2022 season. The record very obviously helps. But they were 33-25 at one point last year. It was nothing like this. So far, it hasn’t translated to attendance, although there hasn’t been a drop.

“If we’re doing our job and we’re doing it well, I think fans are going to show up,” Winn said.

I would love to find out.

• Former Angels great Garret Anderson passed away on Friday at age 53. Anderson holds several career records for the Angels and was a three-time All-Star. Our condolences go out to his family, friends, former teammates and the Angels organization.
• The Angels will honor Anderson with a patch and other tributes.
• Sam Blum was at Friday night’s game in Anaheim which was an emotional affair as GA’s teammates remembered and paid tribute to him. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• The Padres have agreed to a sale for $3.9 billion to Clearlake Capital co-founder José E. Feliciano and his wife Kwanza Jones. That’s a record sale for a baseball team.
• Brittany Ghiroli gets reaction to the record sale from around MLB, (The Athletic sub. req.) including how it is going to be tough for MLB owners to cry poverty in the upcoming collective bargaining talks after this sale price for a non-major market team.
• You probably know this already, but the Mets lost their 11th straight game on Sunday, their longest losing streak since 2004.
• Jay Jaffe looks at what’s going wrong with the Mets in an article that was written after they’d only lost nine-straight. Mostly, it’s the bats.
• Francisco Lindor came to the defense of Mets manager Carlos Mendoza.

• Royals legend Salvador Perez and manager Matt Quatraro got into it a bit after Quatraro suggested that Perez needed a “mental breather” and Perez said he no didn’t. They metaphorically kissed and made up later. At least I assume it was metaphorical.
• Mike Axisa notes that the Dodgers have been the best team in baseball despite not getting much of anything from their big offseason signings.
• Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing said the Rockies approach at the plate was “a little fishy” in Saturday’s Colorado win. (The Athletic sub. req.) His manager Dave Roberts said that it wasn’t.
• One thing the Rockies are doing this year is “suggesting” pitches from the dugout. (The Athletic sub. req.) The Marlins are outright calling pitches from the dugout, but the Rockies are taking a softer stance to the same thing, saying that their pitchers and catchers are free to ignore the suggestions. But they say they mostly don’t.
• One early-season development for each team that they can believe in.
• Chad Jennings has which teams are overachieving and which are underachieving so far this year. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Jesse Rogers reports that the Pirates have been impressed with the maturity of their young rookie Konnor Griffin.
• Of course, Griffin signed a long-term extension with the Pirates. Michael Baumann thinks that who benefits from all these deals and whether it is good for the game is very complicated.
• Julian McWilliams looks at the development of Cardinals slugger Jordan Walker and how the Cardinals needed more than just “patience” to allow the former elite prospect finally bloom. Cardinals hitting coach Brant Brown is extensively quoted and I can’t help but hear Ron Santo scream “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” in my head whenever I hear his name.
• Ryan Blake has a look at when players retire.
• The Reds won a game in extra innings on Sunday after former Cubs catcher P.J. Higgins successfully called for an Automatic Ball/Strike challenge to end the game.
• Jordan Schusterman and Jake Mintz explain what we’ve learned about the ABS system so far.
• First female umpire Jen Pawol was behind the plate for her first ever major league game with the ABS system on Friday. She went 2 for 4 on pitches that were challenged. Giants catcher Daniel Susac praised Pawol behind the plate. Gabe Lacques reports.
• Padres closer Mason Miller now has a scoreless streak of 32.2 innings, just one inning shy of a team record.
• Bryan Horowitz reports on the band Korn sending Miller a whole bunch of swag and inviting him to a concert after they found out that their song “Blind” was Miller’s walk-out music. Of course, the Padres picked the song for Miller since he was born after the song was popular, but he still appreciates it.
• Casey Drottar reports that Taiwanese fans continue to support Guardians minor league outfielder Stuart Fairchild after he played for Chinese Taipei in the WBC. Fairchild has never been to Taiwan, but he hopes to go this upcoming offseason and he wants to take his mother, who left the island for America when she was 12 and hasn’t been back.
• Manny Randhawa reports on Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki and other Japanese players meeting with a 100-year-old Nagasaki survivor at Coors Field this weekend.
• Guardians catcher Austin Hedges proposed to his girlfriend on the field after a game on Sunday. She said yes.
• A college team won a 21-inning marathon on a walk-off balk. Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru with the story.
• The Reno Aces did an entire lineup introduction in a Mickey Mouse voice.

And finally, Matthew Leach has the story of Twins reliever Kody Funderburk, whose wife Alicia is both pregnant and was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Through treatment, the doctors believe that both Alicia and baby will be fine.

For most folks, the start of their career means the end of school. It doesn’t matter if you work in finance, healthcare, the arts or athletics. However, that is not the case for all athletes. The Colorado Rockies provide continuing player education, helping their Latino players learn English language and get acquainted with US culture.

It’s an essential part of player development for future Rockies who are not from the United States. After all, learning a new language and becoming comfortable with a new culture provide off-the-field challenges, and all of this happens while players are continuing to develop their baseball skills.

In this multi-part series, I will be taking you behind the scenes of the Rockies Cultural Education & Development Program.

First up, how it came about.

A brief history of the program

The Rockies Cultural Education & Development Program was first established in 2012 by Josh Rosenthal – brother of former Rockies assistant general manager, Zack Rosenthal. Josh was a former Peace Corps volunteer and felt the need for the players to do more than be able to speak English. He pitched the program to Vice President of International Operations Rolando Fernández, and the rest is history.

Within the year, they hired Angel Amparo – a former systems and structural engineer – as the Cultural Education & Development Coordinator. 

“We pretty much started from scratch with this,” Amparo said. “We were like, ‘What do you want this to look like?’ So we decided on a curriculum in terms of what we needed and a syllabus that we thought was beneficial for our players. This was with a lot of feedback from the coaches, the player development staff and the front office. So we wrote this – I don’t think we knew what we were doing for the first couple of years. They were pretty touch and go, learning and trial by error. But as the years went by and we got more into it… I was focused primarily on just the kids in the Dominican Republic, and Josh could focus on the kids in the States.”

After eight years, Rosenthal left the Rockies organization, and Amparo and a team of four teachers have continued to administer the program from the Dominican Summer League all the way through Double-A: 

• Julio Medina – Lead Teacher (Dominican Summer League)
• Steven Baumann – English Teacher (Arizona Complex League)
• Dr. Yulonn Harris – English Teacher (Fresno & Hartford)
• Paul Worley – English Teacher (Spokane)

The Rockies originally had a formal program for players in Triple-A and the major leagues, but found it to be challenging due to the constant roster turnover. 

“I still communicate with them and we still do a lot of virtual teaching,” Amparo said. “We still offer them any type of English language learning programs that we use and they have access to it. But since they’re at that level and they’re older and more mature – not that we’re babysitting them – we give them the option. We want to tailor to what [they] need.

“So what I do with the Triple-A and major league kids is ask ‘What do you want? What would help you this season?’ And based on what they tell me in their feedback, I design something specific for them that can help them.”

Teacher hiring process

The interview process for teachers is extensive.

“I look for someone who has some experience with either inquiry-based learning, project-based learning or Socratic teaching,” Amparo said. “Knowledge of baseball isn’t a game changer. It’s nice if they have it, but Yulonn (Harris) didn’t know anything about baseball when she was first hired, but she was so qualified and she’s learned so much over the years about the team. I look for unorthodox-type teachers, very outside-the-box teachers.

“I have them create a lesson plan for me, and then I have them do a mock class with their affiliate,” Amparo continued. “I’ll be there and I want to observe. And based on that, I make my decisions. But I’m picky. When I hired Steven (Baumann), we interviewed 74 candidates. And I ask the players who they like afterwards because obviously they work together for the whole season, or multiple seasons, so I want to make sure they have a good connection with this person.”

Term structure

Classes are provided to all signed Latin players, approximately 120-140 players per season. Classes are offered in a hybrid format with both in-person and virtual components for the duration of the season, starting in April and running until September. In the DSL, players take classes every day from 4-7 pm after their morning games. Once players get stateside, the teachers are given more flexibility based on game schedules, but they are still required to meet at least three times per week with two days of asynchronous content. Additionally, the DSL teachers hold office hours for 30 minutes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

In addition to their own internal team, the Rockies also collaborate with other teams across Major League Baseball.

“We have monthly meetings with MLB and all of the other education coordinators,” Amparo said. “We have Zoom meetings, and we always get together at the Winter Meetings as well. I have my little clique with the Twins, the Phillies, the Guardians, the Marlins and the Orioles, so we always get together monthly and we meet at one of our academies. We just brainstorm some ideas because the whole purpose of this is to build better men.”

The main focus of the department is its structured curriculum and syllabus for English-language acquisition through intentional, progressive lessons that are tailored to the realities of a career in professional baseball. There is a standard curriculum, but the teachers are given autonomy to change things as long as it’s beneficial to the players.

“We collaborate on it,” Amparo said. “We have our Rockies Evaluation Matrix with these ‘can do’ statements for different levels. It goes from white, which is rookie, to purple, which is more advanced. So even though we have this as a guideline, I give them the autonomy on lesson plans and projects. One thing that I encourage for the affiliates is to do more interactions with the media and talking with more native speakers. In Arizona, we’ve done presentations to local high schools there. We meet monthly and [the teachers] always come to me with a project or idea that they want to do and as long as it aligns with our matrix of what we’re trying to do, I give them autonomy to do it.”

Other lessons the Rockies have implemented include a spelling bee competition, an egg drop competition, play-by-play commentary, mock commercials, and chess tournaments. Additionally, the players take workshops on financial literacy, contract negotiations and general communications. They also learn vocational skills such as graphic design and PC repair.

Closing thoughts

The Rockies were ahead of the game when it came to helping their Latino players acclimate to working, living, and playing baseball in the United States.

Next week, I’ll discuss the intricacies of the curriculum itself.

On the farm

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 17, Oklahoma City Comets 4

Just like the big league club, the Triple-A Rockies beat the Triple-A Dodgers. And while the Rockies made things close at the end, the Isotopes jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back, including a six-run seventh. They scored in every inning except for the second and eighth, and there was scoring by at least one team in every inning. Every single Isotopes starter had at least one hit except for Charlie Condon (No. 1 PuRP), but he went 0-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored and two strikeouts. Sterlin Thompson (No. 13 PuRP) was the belle of the ball, going 4-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored. Adael Amador, Cole Carrigg (No. 4 PuRP) and Braxton Fulford each had three hits, and Blaine Crim had two.

On the pitching side, starter Sean Sullivan (No. 8 PuRP) tossed five innings and allowed three runs on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts.

Double-A: CANCELLED: Hartford Yard Goats vs. Richmond Flying Squirrels

Sunday’s Yard Goats game against the Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco Giants) was cancelled due to inclement weather and will not be rescheduled since Richmond doesn’t return to Hartford this season. The Yard Goats will begin a six-game road trip to Portland, Maine against the Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) on Tuesday.

High-A: Vancouver Canadians 5, Spokane Indians 2

The Indians struggled against the Canadians again on Sunday afternoon. The pitching staff performed well, with starter Brody Brecht (No. 3 PuRP) throwing three innings without allowing a hit nor a run while walking two and striking out five. Nathan Blasick pitched 0.2 scoreless innings with two hits, a walk and two strikeouts, but Stu Flesland III struggled in his 3.1 innings of work. The left-hander allowed three runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Lefty Justin Loer came in for the final two innings, and allowed two more runs on a home run with two hits and a strikeout.

On the hitting side, only three prospects recorded hits: LF Jacob Humphrey (2-for-4, R, BB), SS Kelvin Hidalgo (3-for-4, RBI, K) and 3B Jacob Hinderleider (1-for-4, R, RBI, K).

Single-A: Ontario Tower Buzzers 23, Fresno Grizzlies 7

While the Triple-A Rockies piled it on the Triple-A Rockies, unfortunately the Single-A Rockies were piled on by the Single-A Dodgers. On the pitching side, the only pitcher to have a clean outing was RHP Manuel Olivares, who allowed two hits with a strikeout in just 0.1 innings of work. Of the six pitchers used, LHP Brady Parker got the worst of it — allowing six runs on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Interestingly, he was one of three that didn’t allow a home run, but was still saddled with the loss.

On the hitting side, Roldy Brito (No. 11 PuRP), Derek Bernard and Tanner Thatch each recorded two hits. Jeremy Ciriasco recorded one, but the rest of the lineup was silent. That said, they only racked up nine strikeouts as a team.

‘Seeing her is a piece of history’: Ohtani, Roberts meet 100-year-old Nagasaki survivor | MLB.com

Ahead of the Rockies game on Saturday, 100-year-old Momoyo Nakamoto Kelley was in attendance and was able to meet her favorite Japanese players — Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tomoyuki Sugano — and Dave Roberts, who was born in Japan. After surviving the atomic bomb at 19, Kelley and her husband emigrated to the US in the 1950’s and now reside in Salt Lake City.

1 early-season development each team can believe in | MLB.com

The Rockies have been tinkering with their pitching strategy. Thomas Harding specifically cites Chase Dollander, Antonio Senzatela and Zach Agnos as positive developments in the bullpen, as the Rockies attempt to not burn it out too early in the season.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Good morning, baseball fans!

It’s a new week of San Francisco Giants baseball, so let’s take a look at what’s on deck for the week.

The Giants are off today, but they’re heading back home to Oracle Park for both series this week.

First up, the Los Angeles Dodgers are coming to town tomorrow for a three-game series. After that, it will be a three-game series against the Miami Marlins over the weekend.

Any other week, I would pick the Dodgers series as the one I am most interested in for the week. But I’m actually going to be attending a game this weekend, so I’m going to have to say the Marlins series. Not only because I will be in attendance, but because they might actually stand a chance of winning some of those. Maybe. The Marlins are fairly good so far this year. But I’ll take them over the Dodgers, I guess.

Which series are you most interested in this week?

After the Red Sox finally got something resembling momentum going with back-to-back series victories against a very good Brewers team and a Cardinals team that has made anybody following MLB say “Hey they actually aren’t as bad as I thought they’d be,” they go out and lay eggs like that over the past week. That display during the first two games in Minnesota was brutal—more on that first game in just a bit—while I feel like I’d be able to buy SB Nation myself if I had a dollar for every time Boston failed to capitalize with runners in scoring position over the weekend against Detroit.

They couldn’t even climb back to a .500 record for the week during Margaritaville Day on Sunday. If the Sox can’t get up for Jimmy and his memory, maybe we really are doomed this season.

I suppose being this far below .500 a few weeks into the season beats being 2-8, but only just barely. “Yeah, no shit Fitz,” I hear you clicking away at your keyboard, “that’s how numbers work.”

That’s fair, but at least there had been some signs of life in recent days. Your ace getting his ass kicked to begin the week was awful, but six runs that night was nothing to sneeze at even if the game was completely gone. Another crooked number in the finale against the Twins was nice, even if the offense was then sluggish the next few games. Ranger Suarez had himself a great night Friday, making it two quality starts in a row. My wife got one of those City Connect cooler cups on Friday, so that’s an improvement I guess.

Jokes aside, while there were some positive-ish developments in recent days, I can’t shake the sense of disappointment thus far—and I’m sure you can’t either, dear reader.

It’s Monday Morning Brushback time, y’all.

I Don’t Even Have A Fun Pun For This Section

I don’t know how to properly start this section other than by simply asking: what in the world happened to Garrett Crochet on Monday?

In less than two innings of work, he coughed up eleven runs (ten of which were earned; kinda funny to me that one of those runs was unearned but I digress) across nine hits. One of the best strikeout pitchers in the game failed to retire anybody by way of the K in his abbreviated start, by far the worst one of his Red Sox tenure thus far. Let’s hope it remains as his worst start for Boston, I guess.

Our very own Keagan Stiefel did a nice write-up on a not-so-nice appearance from our ace, so I’d suggest reading that if you want to dive a bit more into that disaster class. The headline you need to know after this stinker, though, is that the stuff was down across the board. The velo specifically dropped by at least a full tick on all of his offerings in Minnesota.

For what it’s worth, both Crochet himself along with the coaching staff said there were no injury concerns after the game. Crochet was even surprised that there were dips in the velo.

A couple of things here. First, I’m glad he’s seemingly healthy. A BBQ chicken alert for the ace of the pitching staff would be so deflating. Yet at the same time, I don’t know whether to express concern that no one seems to know what the hell happened against the Twins or to just laugh at that fact. Your prized pig goes out and gets slaughtered and then you just throw your hands up and mumble “I dunno” in confusion—that’s just funny.

Maybe it really was just a one-off, bad night that we can laugh about in the future………

……….but is it almost as bad to just drop a complete, regular turd?

—————- (EVERYTHING I WROTE BEFORE THIS POINT WAS ON SUNDAY MORNING; THE REST IS SUNDAY EVENING)

I mean, I guess I’m a dumbass. I don’t have the energy (nor the time; I have a real life job I gotta be ready for) to dive into what the hell happened on Sunday. I can’t hit you with “WELL ACTUALLYYYYYYY” points when Crochet—the guy who is supposed to be the stopper—goes and does whatever the fuck that was on Sunday. No excuses for that; you’re a smarter reader than that, so I will not patronize you with the “bright side” after that display.

To his credit, Crochet is facing the music.

Either way, dude, come the fuck on.

I dunno man. I’m pissed. I’m tired. Let’s move on; I don’t wanna think about this bad performance anymore. What’s gonna happen? Am I gonna complain about another pitc———

Cut The Crap

Have you noticed how often Red Sox pitchers, specifically Red Sox starters, have been throwing cutters this year?

After featuring it as a secondary pitch in year’s past, Sonny Gray has made it his primary offering by throwing it 22% of the time. The cutter had overtaken the four-seam fastball as Crochet’s most-thrown pitch thus far in 2026 (prior to Sunday’s start, for full transparency). Ranger Suarez has thrown it 20% of the time, which would be a career high if that usage keeps up.

It seems like we’re building most of the plane out of cutters. In a vacuum, perhaps that idea has some merit. The bite of a cutter can be lethal in either extend the zone to get guys to chase, or to tie batters up with something on their hands, all while keeping batters honest with some velo to go along with the movement. Mixing the glove-side movement of a cutter along with, say, any arm-side movement you could get with a sinker is a solid combo. When executed well, it’s a damn good type of fastball.

That’s the thing, though: it’s not always executed well. Not everyone has a Mariano Rivera-y cutter.

The cut fastball for Mr. Gray, for example, has worked for him so far. Opposing batters have only slugged .263 when hacking at Sonny’s cutter, and that pitch’s expected slugging percentage is only at .327. It’s not like he’s getting barreled up on that pitch (maybe on other pitches, but that’s another story). While the Minnesota game might have thrown a wrench into Crochet’s 2026 sample, the cutter worked really well for him last year; hitters facing Garrett in 2025 slugged south of .400 and had an xwOBA (translate to “quality of contact” for those of you who like plain English; can’t blame ya, feels like there are new analytical stats invented every day!) just below .300 when facing his cutter.

But consider someone like Brayan Bello, who’s cutter usage has jumped from 16% last year to 26% this year. It’s overtaken his sweeper as his primary glove-side offering in 2026.

My question about that change is simple: Why? Why are we doing that? I understand I’m doing an armchair pitching coach thing here, but when you look at the numbers here it’s a bit of a head scratcher. Bello’s cutter has, by and large, not been a valuable pitch.

He introduced a cutter into his arsenal (1-2 to Man City, uggh) in 2023—and he only threw it 38 times that year, so I recognize that it’s not a significant enough a sample to base an entire thesis on—to the tune of a 1.083 slugging percentage and a .665 xSLG. Maybe that’s why he didn’t throw it a lot in 2023; in fact, he shelved it completely in 2024. After a fallow year, Bello threw his cut fastball 423 times in 2025, though the results were still not amazing: .437 slugging percentage, but a .506 xSLG.

I don’t know about you, but when I look at those numbers I don’t see a pitch that is screaming to become the second-most deployed offering and the primary pitch to throw if you’re looking for any glove-side movement. With that in mind, maybe you understand why I’m confused about an uptick of ten percentage points for this cut fastball from Bello. You may also not be surprised to learn that after 94 cutters thrown in 2026, Bello’s slugging percentage surrendered on that pitch is .471 (so, worse than last year) on a .541 xSLG (again, worse that last year). Bello is throwing a not-great pitch more often this season and getting not-great results.

The one thing I’ll say in defense of his cutter is that he’s getting a ton of swings-and-misses on it so far this year (57.4% whiff rate, damn), but forgive me if that put away potential isn’t moving me a ton considering that he’s failed to make it through five innings in three of his first four appearances this year.

The dude had a 3.35 ERA last year! The FIP was north of 4.00 in 2025, sure, but there’s a solid starter in there that doesn’t need to have his repertoire scrambled to succeed. I’m all for trying new things on the mound to see if it works, and perhaps we’re still in the tinkering phase. Not all experiments work, though, and I’m curious to see if/when the Sox pull the plug on a cutter-dominant approach for Bello in 2026.

Cool As Hell

Fortunately for you, dear reader, I come bearing great news: I have secured two water cooler cups from Fenway Park.

I love consuming. Consuming—especially at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts—is my favorite activity in the world.

And isn’t that the most important factor of the last two home serieseseseseseses? The fact that I’m still consuming? The fact that that why we play at Fenway? Everything is great! I love baseball! Everything rules! Nothing is bad! It’s illegal to say that things are bad! We’re good! Baseball! Sports!

Song of the Week: “Electric Zoo” by SpongeBob I Think???? I Dunno Here’s A 10 Hour Version

Baseball!

Be good to each other and go sports!

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The Detroit Tigers seek a series victory when they face the Boston Red Sox this morning for the annual Patriots Day game.

Boston starter Sonny Gray has seen a sharp drop in strikeouts, and my Tigers vs. Red Sox predictions expect a Tigers victory. 

Read on for my MLB picks for Monday, April 20. 

Who will win Tigers vs Red Sox today: Tigers moneyline (+123)

Jack Flaherty turned around an early-season stinker, allowing only two earned runs while adding 13 strikeouts across his last 11 2/3 innings. 

He draws a Boston Red Sox lineup that ranks 23rd against right-handed pitching with a 25% strikeout rate and the second-lowest ISO against righties.

Sonny Gray gives up hits. His .295 xBA means the Detroit Tigers, who are slugging .403 against right-handed pitching, will put the ball in play all afternoon. 

Detroit has won eight of its last nine, and is the right bet today. 

COVERS INTEL: Gray’s strikeout rate has plummeted to 12.5% this season, well below his 24.1% career mark.

Tigers vs Red Sox Over/Under pick: Under 8 (-105)

Neither of these offenses is built to put up crooked numbers, and everything about this matchup points in the same direction.

Gray controls the strike zone as well as anyone in the rotation and keeps the ball on the ground, while Flaherty has enough swing-and-miss stuff to strand traffic. 

Boston has scored only four runs and is 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position, while Detroit is 5-for-16 with RISP during this series. 

Five of their previous six meetings have gone Under the total, and today's will too. 

Tigers vs Red Sox odds

• Moneyline: Tigers +122 | Red Sox -127
• Run line: Tigers +1.5 (-194) | Red Sox -1.5 (+144)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (+108) | Under 8.5 (-113)

Tigers vs Red Sox trend

The game total has ended Under the total in six of their previous 10 meetings. Find more MLB betting trends for Tigers vs. Red Sox.

How to watch Tigers vs Red Sox and game info

Tigers vs Red Sox latest injuries

Tigers vs Red Sox 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.

Hello and happy Monday, folks.

Happy Marathon Monday, to be specific.

A huge shoutout to all of those who will be running in the marathon today, and another huge shoutout taking the time to go out and cheer everybody on. Patriots Day is a special day here in the Bay State—go on and have a good time with it.

The Sox play today as well; I have no clue whether this post is gonna be posted before the first pitch at 11:10 a.m.

Drop your favorite Marathon Monday memories in the chat below.

Be good to each other and go Sox.

I’m usually the one around here that looks for the optimistic point of view with the Phillies. They’re still a talented team that will likely make the playoffs this year, even if right now it’s bleak. The baseball gods have frowned on them in a rather substantial way (or is it the ghost of Harry Kalas?)

I’m also not blind: this team stinks something terrible right now.

There is still plenty of season left and plenty of time to right the ship. They’ll get on track soon enough…

….but boy are they playing bad baseball.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Taijuan Walker is going to be in the game Wednesday, he just won’t be starting the game. They’ll go with an opener.
• The team is “frustrated” right now with their performance. What did we learn from a homestand that saw them go 1-8?
• It was their worst homestand since 2000. They need to get better and get better soon ($).

MLB news:

• There are three managers that have struggling teams right now with the talent to turn it around. They’re still not safe ($).
• Hunter Brown saw an iffy timeline with his injury to his shoulder. Now, the team has a more defined timeline to when he’ll return.
• How about a mock draft to lighten the day for you? Remember, the Phillies’ draft position has been backed up a bit this year.

With a depleted group of relievers, the Pittsburgh Pirates promoted one of their top prospects ahead of their Sunday contest against the Tampa Bay Rays.

23-year-old Wilber Dotel got the call to pitch for Pittsburgh while on a road trip with Triple-A Indianapolis. Originally slated to start for the Indians on Saturday evening, Dotel instead found himself making his MLB debut with the Pirates, helping to close out their victory over the Rays.

The Dominican Republic native was called upon in the ninth inning, and said he was filled with emotion coming out of the bullpen.

 “On my way to the mound, I wanted to get there as fast as possible just to get on the mound and start throwing my pitches,” Dotel said.

Dotel first faced Junior Caminero and gave up a homer, but remained poised during the rest of his outing. The next three batters were retired with no more hits or runs allowed, and Dotel had eight pitches registered at more than 98 mph. He would pick up his first big league strikeout against Jonathan Aranda.

Pirates’ manager Don Kelly was pleased with Dotel’s performance.

“That was impressive,” Kelly said, “Especially for a guy making his debut in the ninth inning with a lead and give up a homer and then come back with triple digits and stay in the zone. That was phenomenal.”

Dotel was signed by the Pirates in 2020 as an international free-agent at 18-years-old. Known for blazing fastballs, Dotel has quietly but effectively moved up the Minor League ranks, and has been a real fixture in the Pirates’ farm system since 2023. 2025 was Dotel’s best season to date. With Double-A Altoona the righty had a 7-9 record with a 4.15 ERA over 125.2 innings. His 131 strikeouts ranked third in the Eastern League, while he had a career low in walk rate (3.1 BB/9) and a career high for strikeout rate (9.4/9). Dotel made just three starts in Indianapolis before being promoted.

Despite not having played in relief in three seasons, it is the spot that Dotel is most valuable right now and figures to be where he is used at this season with Pittsburgh. He did pitch two innings out of the bullpen for the Buccos in Spring Training, so he’s optimistic that the transition will not be that difficult. Time will tell if Dotel is a full time reliever for the Pirates, but it is a group that could use some fresh blood as it has struggled in 2026.

Wilber Dotel is the Pirates’ 12th ranked prospect.

Mason Miller has been untouchable all season. And so have the San Diego Padres lately.

Miller's scoreless streak is now at 32 ⅔ innings, just one shy of the Padres' franchise record. And perhaps most impressively, the best closer in the game has struck out 27 of 38 batters faced this season, his 71.1% strikeout rate the highest by a pitcher in his first 11 appearances since 1900.

But it takes a good team to give a closer a chance to shine and the Padres are just about baseball's best right now. They've won 13 of 15 to close within a half-game of the Los Angeles Dodgers - and zoom seven spots to No. 2 in USA TODAY Sports' power rankings.

At 15-7, the Padres have baseball's second-best record, thanks in large part to their closer with the wipeout fastball-slider combo that's proven untouchable. Or, as Fernando Tatis Jr. put it, "Game over."

Miller's next task? Preserving his scoreless streak through mile-high Coors Field and Phoenix this week.

A look at our updated rankings:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (-)

• Nothing like Coors Field to humble a club on a 126-win pace.

2. San Diego Padres (+7)

• Jackson Merrill has robbed three home runs - still impressive even if Jo Adell did that in one game.

3. New York Yankees (-1)

• Cam Schlittler still taking guff from Red Sox fans, still ready to break their hearts once again.

4. Atlanta Braves (+3)

• Martín Pérez DFA'd, re-signed, still dominates Phillies.

5. Milwaukee Brewers (-2)

• Jacob Misiorowski with a dominant 40% whiff rate through five starts.

6. Cincinnati Reds (+5)

• Won eight of first 10 road games for first time since ... 1990 World Series championship season.

7. Pittsburgh Pirates (-1)

• Mitch Keller sporting a 2.79 ERA after five starts.

8. Cleveland Guardians (-)

• Parker Messick threatened, but Len Barker's perfect game is Cleveland's last no-no. Len Barker is now 70 years old.

9. Detroit Tigers (+4)

• Dillon Dingler leads all major league catchers with .983 OPS, second with five home runs.

10. Arizona Diamondbacks (-)

• Corbin Carroll hits grand slam one day, exits with back tightness the next.

MLB Trade Rumors | Charlie Wright: The Yankees made a minor trade on Sunday, trading infielder Braden Shewmake to the Astros for Wilmy Sanchez. Shewmake has appeared in the majors for the Braves and White Sox and was signed as a minor-league depth infielder. As for who the Yankees have picked up, Sanchez is a 22-year-old pitching prospect who started this season in Double-A and will indeed report to the Somerset Patriots.

NJ.com | Bob Klapisch: This season, the Yankees have began starting their early afternoon games at 1:35 pm ET, as opposed to 1:05 pm ET. That apparently came after a request from some of the veteran players, who believe the change has actually helped them in their game preparation.

New York Post | Joel Sherman: Cam Schlittler made a bit of a impression last October, not only for his performance against the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card Series, but also for his willingness to chirp at Boston fans, whom he grew up amongst. Well this week, he’s set to make his first career start back in Fenway Park, and that’s become a bit of an event. Schlittler has reported that he and family members have received death threats, and while the pitcher doesn’t believe there’s anything serious to them, that shows the nature of how he’s gotten in some fans’ heads since last October.

MLB.com: Yankees beat writer Bryan Hoch weighed in alongside 29 other personalities at MLB.com to offer insight on early-season developments that the team they cover can believe in. Like many, Hoch’s been impressed by the hard-hitting Ben Rice thus far, calling him a future All-Star — and this was published before he homered in his fourth consecutive game. After going yard yesterday (lefty/lefty off Cole Ragans, too), he’s now hitting .338/.476/.800 with eight dingers and a 246 wRC+ in 84 PA. Modest.

CHICAGO — Devin Williams’ last two appearances for the Mets have sounded the alarms.

After an ugly performance Wednesday against the Dodgers in a non-save situation, the right-hander got hit with his first blown save this season in Sunday’s ninth inning. Michael Conforto’s game-tying RBI double against Williams helped sink the Mets in their 2-1 loss to the Cubs in 10 innings.

“I missed down the middle, and he put a good swing on it,” Williams said.

Williams allowed a leadoff single to Ian Happ before the pinch hitter Conforto, with one out, delivered to tie the game.

In his previous appearance Williams recorded only one out and allowed four earned runs on three hits and one walk. He owns a 7.11 ERA in seven appearances.

It probably hasn’t helped that his usage has been limited by the scarcity of save situations. Sunday’s appearance was only his third in 14 days.

“That’s what comes with the job,” Williams said. “My job is to be there and be prepared and finish games when they get me the ball and I didn’t do that today.”

The Mets will face the Twins, Rockies and Nationals during a nine-game homestand that begins Tuesday. At some point during that stretch, Juan Soto is expected back in the lineup. Soto has missed the last 14 games rehabbing a right calf strain.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

“He is so irreplaceable, and having him back is going to help us a lot,” Francisco Lindor said. “Hopefully he is back and he’s in the top three hitters in the league, probably the top two. He’s going to help us a ton and lengthen our lineup. But even when he comes we still have got to get it done. It would be unfair to throw everything on him as a team.”

Conforto’s ninth-inning double was the second game-tying hit of his career as a pinch hitter. His other was with the Mets on April 13, 2017 at Miami, a double in the eighth inning.

Brett Baty snapped an 0-for-22 skid with a single in his first plate appearance.