Category: MLB

At 14-10, few (if any) saw this kind of start to the 2026 season. Pre-season predictions were somewhat gloomy. Many people feared a near-100 loss season. Few had the temerity to stretch beyond a prediction of 81-81, although the boldest thought 85 wins within reach. Personally, I was thinking just under .500 (say, 78 +/-), with the roughest part being the first third or perhaps first half of the season.

But 14-10 to start? What is with that? Let’s look a little bit at who they played.

The Strength of Schedule

I am admittedly not a strength of schedule proponent when it comes to forecasting future outcomes. I rarely care if there is a seemingly tough stretch of games coming up. There is always a tough stretch coming up. To me, off-days, long travel, day games after night games, pitching match-ups, trends, and health matter more than the reputation of the upcoming opponent. But in the backcast, it can pay to look at who they played and the context around those games and series.

At time of publication (I’m writing this as the Cardinals close out the Marlins series), the Cardinals will have completed 8 series. Right now, they have won five of those series, with one sweep in the mix. If my math is working tonight, that means they have lost three series.

The series’ wins have come against Tampa Bay, New York, Washington, Cleveland and Houston. The series losses have come at the hands of Detroit, Boston and now Miami (sigh). What can we see about these opponents in the aggregate?

If I rank all MLB teams by Win PCT, I can see that the Cardinals have not played a team in the top 10, and only 2 teams in the top half.

How about the pitching they have faced? Houston, Washington and Tampa are in the bottom 20th percentile in Runs Allowed (RA). In other words, we caught them at a time when they have serious pitching woes. On the other hand, the series’ losses were to teams in the top half of RA.

But how about the offenses they faced? Interestingly, of the teams they faced, only the Mets and Red Sox are really having trouble scoring. Houston and Washington are top 4 in MLB in Runs Scored (RS). Everyone else is in the top half of MLB offensively, thus far. I suppose one could say the Cardinals pitching helped them get there…

How’d they do against the better (ie. > .500 teams)? Cleveland and Tampa are over .500 (the Cardinals won those series). They have not lost a series to an over .500 team. So, 4-2 against over .500 teams, 10-8 against the .500 and under teams.

The pitching

On the Cardinals side of run prevention, the Cardinals RA is not so hot either, meaning even in the series they have won, their pitching got beat around a bit (particularly the bullpen). The Cardinals are 26th in MLB in the Runs Allowed (RA) department. Just ahead of such luminaries as Houston, Washington, Chicago (White Sox) and … Philadelphia(??). I would have though Philly’s pitching would be top 3, alongside LA and Pittsburgh. That goes to show you what I know.

The relatively young Cardinal pitching staff portended some ups-and-downs but I think most expected better than 26th in MLB. Given the offensive strength of the opponents thus far, some improvement may organically occur as the Cardinals face more offensively challenged opponents.

The Offense

The Cardinals themselves are 11th in MLB is Runs Scored. Who featured the Cardinals would be top half in baseball in HRs? Way beyond pre-season expectations, what with what appeared to be an offense distinctively lacking in power. The difference? The entirety of the improvement rests on Jordan Walker’s broad shoulders. 8 HR is probably 7 HR more than people expected. 7 less HR would put the Cardinals in the bottom third of MLB, where they projected. Suffice to say, this offense looks decidedly different with Jordan Walker hitting for power.

The brightest spot in this early season is the change of narrative. Jordan Walker hitting for power was something many didn’t think possible before the start of the season. Now the question has evolved from “possible?” to “sustainable?”. We shall see.

Given the relative lack of pitching strength their opponents have displayed to-date, the Redbirds would seem likely to regress to the bottom half over time as they encounter teams with stronger pitching. Looking at the line-up coming out of Spring Training, this would not be a shock.

The Defense

One thing stands out that isn’t necessarily all that related to catching the opponent at the right or wrong time. Defense would seem to be somewhat immune to how the other team is doing. Houston’s pitching problems didn’t really affect how the Cardinals defense played. Looking at DEF, the Cardinals are 6th in MLB with 6.8 DEF. The top team? The Cubs.

From an opponent standpoint, Tampa, Detroit, Houston and Washington have played poorly defensively, all coming in well below 0 DEF. The other four Cardinal opponents are top half, positive DEF teams, so a pretty even distribution. If you subscribe to the theory that defense doesn’t slump, it appears the Cardinals have an edge in this arena that will carry forward in almost any series they play.

Schedule Peculiarities

The Cardinals are scheduled to play almost 1/3 of their games against NL Central opponents. They will already have played 1/6 of their season before they get their first look at an NL Central team (they go to Pittsburgh for a four game set next week). Stated another way, 40% of their remaining games come against NL Central opponents. How they stack up against those teams at the time they play them will certainly steer the direction of the season.

The NL Central Opponents

Pittsburgh, Chicago and Milwaukee are ahead of the Cardinals in Runs Scored. More worrisome is that while the Cardinals are 25th in MLB in Runs Allowed, every other NL Central team is top 10 in same category. That is a pretty good gap to make up. Of course, how that pitching plays out when they actually meet might not reflect how it has played out in the early part of the season.

Overall

So, the Cardinals have played most of their games against teams that are struggling in the early going, but they have held their own against teams playing well. Some of the poor performers were expected (no one expected Washington to be good), some are surprises (who expected complete collapses for the Mets and Astros?). Overall, I’d say the Cardinal’s early season “strength of schedule” how shown to be weaker than would have been expected. Cause or effect?

Probably the key variable that the early season provides few clues on is … how well do they Cardinals stack up against the other NL Central teams. Going in, each seemed like they’d be better than the Cardinals, but flawed enough that rays of hope pierced the fog of rebuilding. Suffice to say that the Cubs rate higher in each of hitting (RS), pitching (RA) and defense (DEF) than the Cardinals do, so they clearly have an edge. The others? It may be a bit of a dog pile.

An oddity

Last year, it seemed like the Cardinals were vulnerable to lefty pitchers, with the bulk of their productive line-up being LH hitters. From that line-up, they lost Donovan and Contreras. The effect? So far this year, against LHP, the Cardinals enjoy a 113 wRC+. Against RHP, they lag at 95 wRC+.

The Detroit Tigers continue the interleague portion of their early schedule this weekend with a trip to Ohio for a three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds starting on Friday night.

The Motor City Kitties are coming off a series win over the Milwaukee Brewers at home. After getting spanked in the opener, 12-4, they bounced back to win the next two, 5-2 and 5-4, respectively.

The Reds enter the weekend with the third-best record in the majors, having taken two of three from the Tampa Bay Rays on the road before returning home. However, they left Florida on a losing note, dropping the finale on Wednesday, 6-1.

Getting the start for Detroit on Friday night is left-hander Framber Valdez, who has proven to be a solid addition to the rotation after his first five starts. Believe it or not, this will be the southpaw’s first appearance against Cincinnati in his eight-year MLB career.

Opposite him will be fellow lefty Andrew Abbott, a fourth-year hurler who finished eighth for the NL Cy Young Award last season. He, too, will be facing the Tigers for the first time ever.

Detroit Tigers (12-10) vs. Cincinnati Reds (16-9)

Time (ET): 6:40 p.m.
Place: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, Ohio
SB Nation Site:Red Reporter
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 27: LHP Framber Valdez (2-1, 3.30 ERA) vs. LHP Andrew Abbott (0-2, 5.84 ERA)

VALDEZ

ABBOTT

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Even an off day didn’t give the Orioles a break from the relentless injury news. Dean Kremer is the latest injured Oriole, just two starts into his major league season, as the club placed him on the 15-day injured list yesterday with a right quad strain. The O’s called up Brandon Young from Triple-A Norfolk to take Kremer’s rotation spot.

It never seems to end. We’re less than a month into the season and the O’s now have 13 players on the injured list, including six on the 60-day IL. Other than Félix Bautista, all of these injuries have occurred since the start of spring training, robbing the Orioles of a slew of players they expected to be contributors this season. That kind of attrition is hard for any team to overcome. The O’s front office did a somewhat better job of building the Birds’ depth this offseason compared to last year, but they probably weren’t expecting it to be put to the test quite this early.

Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg have yet to play a major league game this year, and the latter might miss the whole season. Zach Eflin made a grand total of one appearance before his season ended. In some cases, the Orioles have shown remarkable resilience to overcome key absences. The bullpen in particular has outperformed expectations without late-inning relievers Andrew Kittredge and Keegan Akin (not to mention Bautista), thanks to lesser-known names like Rico Garcia, Anthony Nunez, and Grant Wolfram stepping up. Jeremiah Jackson has superbly replaced Holliday at second base, to the point that I’m not totally sure what the O’s are going to do with Holliday once he’s healthy.

Other injuries have led to some less-than-stellar replacements. Coby Mayo has gotten everyday duty at third base in Westburg’s absence and has been better than expected with the glove but miserable at the plate, his two long homers in Kansas City notwithstanding. And Ryan Mountcastle and Tyler O’Neill, while not pivotal members of the team, were at least expected to boost the Birds against left-handed pitching. With that duo out of commission, the O’s have cobbled together lineups against southpaws that include Johnathan Rodríguez and Blaze Alexander in the outfield, with dismal results. And now the Kremer injury, on the heels of Eflin’s surgery, has further stretched the Orioles’ pitching depth.

For now, it’ll be up to Young to try to prove himself as a capable replacement. He’ll take the mound tonight as the Orioles begin a six-game homestand against the Red Sox and Astros, two teams who were expected to contend but who currently sit in last place in their respective divisions. You love to see it. The O’s went 3-3 on their first homestand, then 3-3 on their first road trip, then 3-3 on their next homestand, then 3-4 on their next road trip. There’s simply no way to guess how many games they’ll win during this homestand.

Links

Jon Meoli: Adley Rutschman returned to the Orioles without missing a beat. Having his ‘comfortable’ swing helps. – The Baltimore Banner

Last year around this time I declared that Adley was so back, only for him to spend the rest of the season being injured and/or ineffective. But this time? Adley is so back.

Will Orioles ever retire Mike Mussina’s No. 35? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com

I know what the answer should be. But Rich Dubroff’s answer probably isn’t the one you want to hear.

Leody Taveras has been the O’s MVP so far. Here’s how – MLB.com

File this under “Orioles Headlines I Never Expected to Read This Year.”

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! And happy 33rd birthday to former O’s ace John Means. The lefty hasn’t pitched in the majors since May 2024, when he underwent his his second Tommy John surgery, and likely won’t pitch this year after rupturing his Achilles this offseason, but he signed a two-year deal with his hometown Royals in hopes of returning in 2027. Good luck to Means in his recovery. The other ex-Oriole with an April 24 birthday is catcher Welington Castillo (39).

On this day in 1965, the O’s reunited with an original Oriole, acquiring veteran right-hander Don Larsen from Houston. Larsen had pitched for the inaugural 1954 Orioles, coming over with the franchise from St. Louis, but went 3-21 that season before joining the Yankees, where he eventually threw a perfect game in the World Series. Larsen’s second stint with the Birds in ’65 was as a reliever, where he had a 2.67 ERA in 27 games.

Random Orioles game of the day

On April 24, 1996, the Orioles beat the Royals in an 11-8 barnburner at Kauffman Stadium. The O’s pounded out 18 hits in the game, led by Cal Ripken’s 4-for-5 performance. Chris Hoiles bashed two home runs while Ripken, Brady Anderson, and Mike Devereaux each went yard as well. O’s starter Kent Mercker got the win despite giving up six runs in five innings, and closer Randy Myers stranded the bases loaded after a hairy ninth in which he walked three and gave up a hit. The win snapped the Orioles’ six-game losing streak.

One week ago, I opened up the links by noting that the results of the Braves series would have a major impact on the mood of the fanbase. The same can be said today. Let us hope that this series will turn out better than the last.

Onto the links.

Phillies news

Taijuan Walker’s time with the Phillies has come to an end.

Michael Baumann of FanGraphs surveys Jesús Luzardo’s season, and concludes he needs an exorcism. ($)

Asked about the losing streak, Harper says the team has to “weather the storm”.

MLB news

The Mets ended their losing streak, but their streak of bad luck continues: Francisco Lindor has hit the 10-day IL with a calf injury.

Sandy Koufax has been awarded a well-deserved lifetime achievement award.

This probably won’t make you happy, but for your information: Braves pitching prospect JR Ritchie impressed in his debut.

Free of charge for the discerning reader.Happy birthday toWelington Castillo* and a mighty host of others, plus more baseball stories, like “NEWS ALERT”: The HOF and BBWAA have always been stupid entities, and world stories, such as Sir Paul is still kicking.

Today in baseball history:

• 1917 – George Mogridge of the New York Yankees pitches a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox, 2- , at Fenway Park. Mogridge strikes out three batters and walks three as he becomes the first Yankee pitcher to actually win a no-hit game: in 1910, Tom Hughes had pitched nine no-hit innings against Cleveland, but lost the game after giving up a hit in the 10th and five runs in the 11th.
• 1926 – Unfazed by Forbes Field‘s ample dimensions, St. Louis Cardinals player-manager Rogers Hornsby leads by example, slugging his team to a 9-3 thrashing of the Pirates. He goes 3 for 3 with a single, double, sacrifice fly and tape-measure inside the park home run for a total of five RBI.
• 1931 – Three days before his 35th birthday, Chicago’s player-manager Rogers Hornsby again has a great game at Forbes Field as he hits three consecutive home runs to beat the Pirates, 10-6.
• 1946 – Former major leaguers Jesse Burkett, Frank Chance, Jack Chesbro, Johnny Evers, Clark Griffith, Tommy McCarthy, Joe McGinnity, Eddie Plank, Joe Tinker, Rube Waddell and Ed Walsh are inducted into the Hall of Fame. This comes as a result of the BBWAA having once again failed to elect anyone: clearly overstepping its mandate, the Old Timers Committee walks into the breach and elects a boatload of players, many of which are under active consideration by the baseball writers.
• 1957 – The Chicago Cubs set a National League record by walking nine batters in the fifth inning of a 9-5 loss to the Cincinnati Redlegs. Moe Drabowsky walks four batters, Jackie Collum issues three free passes, and Jim Brosnan two during the wild inning.
• 1958 – Lee Walls hits three home runs and drives in eight runs as the Cubs rout the Dodgers, 15-2, at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
• 1962 – Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers strikes out 18 Chicago Cubs in a 10-2 victory at Wrigley Field. Koufax ties the record of 18 strikeouts in a single game, matching the mark set by Bob Feller with the Cleveland Indians.
• 1978 – Nolan Ryan of the California Angels strikes out 15 batters for the 20th time in his career, but leaves in the 9th inning without a decision. The Seattle Mariners prevails over the Angels, 6-5, in the 12th.
• 1998 – Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza ties a major league record hitting his third grand slam of the month. The blast highlights a nine-run second inning which leads Los Angeles to a 12-4 victory over the visiting Chicago Cubs.
• 2012 – Chipper Jones homers on his 40th birthday (off Aaron Harang) as the Braves beat the Dodgers, 4-3. He becomes the fifth player in major league history to do this, following Bob Thurman, Joe Morgan, Wade Boggs and Tony Phillips.
• 2014 – David Ortiz breaks Harold Baines‘ record for games played at Designated Hitter (1,644); Ortiz already held records for hits, homers and RBI as a DH. Ortiz goes 0 for 1 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch before leaving early in a 12-5 Boston loss to the Yankees.

Cubs Birthdays:Willi Castro, Steven Souza Jr., Welington Castillo*, Will Cunnane, Herman Segelke, Glen Hobbie, Ken Penner. Also notable: Carlos Beltrán HOF. Chipper Jones HOF. Andy Cooper HOF.

Today in history:

• 1184 BC – The Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional date).
• 1459 – Fra Mauro completes his Map of the World in Venice for King Alfonso V of Portugal – largest known world map from Medieval Europe and the first to show Africa as a free-standing continent.
• 1833 – Jacob Evert and George Dulty patent the first soda fountain.
• 1895 – Canadian-American adventurer Joshua Slocum sets sail from Boston, Massachusetts on a solo around-the-world voyage aboard ‘Spray’, an 11.2-m oyster sloop, 46,000 miles.
• 1908 – Mr & Mrs Jacob Murdock and their children depart Los Angeles in a Packard Thirty, endeavoring to become the first family to travel across the United States by car. They arrive in NYC 32 days, 5 hours and 25 minutes later.
• 1945 – Miles Davis makes recording debut with the Herbie Fields Orchestra, backing singer “Rubberlegs” Wilson, at Savoy Records Studio, Newark, New Jersey.
• 1953 – Winston Churchill knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
• 1969 – Paul McCartney says there is no truth to rumors he is dead (and he’s still not dead).
• 1989  – Massachusetts declares today “New Kids on the Block Day”.
• 2018 – Streaming music services overtake worldwide sales of CDs and vinyl for the first time according to IFPI.

*pictured.

Greetings, Brew Crew Ball community. The Brewers bounced back nicely on their road trip against the Marlins and Tigers, and they’re now back in Milwaukee to host Paul Skenes and the Pirates this weekend. In some scary news, team No. 2 prospect and MLB No. 21 prospect Luis Peña reportedly collapsed in the dugout late in High-A Wisconsin’s game on Wednesday night. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-baseball sports, the Brewers, you name it. As long as it’s appropriate and is allowed by our moderators, it’s fair game here.

You know the drill.

This is now an open thread:

Is there anything better than a sweep in Boston? The Yankees kept the good times rolling yesterday, rallying late to support Cam Schlittler, who tossed eight stellar innings for his oart. Up next are the Astros, another struggling rival off to a very poor start. The Yankees would do well to shove more dirt on Houston, just as they just did with the Red Sox.

On the site today, Sam reviews last night’s American League action, and also looks ahead to the upcoming three-game series with the Astros. Later, Matt remembers Carlos Beltrán’s brief time in pinstripes on the occasion of Beltrán’s 49th birthday. Meanwhile, Josh argues that MLB can’t afford to forfeit the momentum they’ve generated with recent rules changes by instituting a damaging lockout next year, and Andrés examines another great start from top prospect George Lombard Jr.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees at Houston Astros

Time: 8:10 p.m. EST

Video: YES Network, Space City Home Network

Venue: Daikin Park, Houston, TX

Questions/Prompts:

1. Is there a pitcher that you’re more excited to watch than Cam Schlittler right now?

2. As we head to Houston, how worried are you that the Astros will be able to shrug off this slow start and return to prominence by season’s end?

The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: Cam Schlittler has been one of the biggest surprises in recent Yankee history, coming onto the major-league stage in the most impressive way in less than a year. Part of his repertoire of success has been a shiny new cutter he unveiled in his final regular-season start, a cutter taught to him by no less than Gerrit Cole. Cole himself adopted the breaking fastball in his 2023 Cy Young season, and if that’s the pedigree that Schlittler is learning under, the sky is the limit for the young righthander.

MLB.com | Jared Greenspan: Alongside that cutter, Schlittler features a four and two-seam fastball, throwing those three pitches more than 85 percent of the time in 2026. This flies in the face of current pitching trends, where guys are offering more breaking and offspeed pitches than ever before. This old-school approach may be part of what takes MLB hitters by surprise when facing Cam, but all three heaters are also legitimate, big-league caliber pitches.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: We move from the pitcher’s mound to the batter’s box, where Amed Rosario has carved out a prominent spot for himself in the Yankee lineup. The onetime top prospect drove in all four Yankee runs in Wednesday’s win, and entering play yesterday had a sterling 137 wRC+. The righty credits an offseason change since re-signing with the Yankees over the winter, adding more uppercut to his swing and inducing more fly balls. His big home runs this year have been a direct symptom of that change — pulled fly balls do much more damage than shortening up and hitting the ball the other way.

New York Post | Mark W. Sanchez: When you’re rolling, these are good problems to have, but Aaron Boone does have to fill out a lineup card every day. Giving Ben Rice a day off will have Yankee fans grinding their teeth, and you need to balance out the new offensive upside Rosario has shown with the fact that Ryan McMahon really is a diamond defender at the hot corner. For now, Boone is pulling the right strings, although we’ll certainly hear about it if his luck starts to change.

In an attempt to remake a starting rotation expected to lose a two-time All-Star, the Astros traded two prospects from a barren farm system to acquire Mike Burrows from the Pittsburgh Pirates last December. 

An 11^th round pick by the Pirates in 2018, Burrows finally made his Major League debut in 2024 and put himself on the map by posting a 3.94 ERA with a 24.1 percent strikeout rate and a 7.7 percent walk rate, both better than league average. Burrows emerged as an above-average starting pitcher, and with five years of club control it’s the type of high-ceiling move smart clubs make.

So far, the trade has been a flop.

Burrows is 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA in his first five starts with the Astros. His walk rate has dipped slightly from last season, but his strikeout rate is down to 20.5 percent. He has finished the sixth inning just once and allowed three runs or more in all but one start. 

Burrows arrived in Houston regarded as having one of baseball’s best changeups. While it hasn’t been quite as effective this season, opponents are batting just .188 with a 37.1% whiff rate against it. His biggest problem has been his fastball getting crushed.

Lefties are 8 for 16 with three home runs against Burrows’ four-seam fastball, while righties are 8 for 20 with a homer against his two-seam. Burrows didn’t throw the two-seam often with the Pirates, so it’s not surprising he’s experiencing some early growing pains with it, but the four-seam needs to be better. Left-handed hitters batted .270 with two homers against it in 2025.

But there are reasons for optimism.

For 14 batters against the Cardinals on Sunday, Burrows looked like the pitcher the Astros thought they were getting. He retired all 14, seven via strikeouts, before Masyn Winn singled through the left side of the infield. The next four batters also reached, and Burrows couldn’t finish the fifth inning despite starting the game 14 up, 14 down.

“I don’t want to take away from how well he pitched those first four innings,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “I think the fifth doesn’t speak for how well he threw the ball. He had his stuff working.”

There are two main reasons the Astros should be confident that Burrows can make the first 14 batters from his last start more the norm than the final five.

There is always an adjustment after changing teams. Aside from the obvious change of leaving the only organization you’ve ever known, your new team is going to ask you to tweak certain aspects of your game. The Astros have been no different with Burrows. 

The Astros have overhauled Burrows’ pitch usage. His two-seam fastball, which has produced poor results, is now his primary pitch against right-handed hitters after being used less than 10 percent of the time last season. They’ve also lowered his arm slot from 48 degrees to 39.

Burrows has also been somewhat unlucky so far this season. His FIP is nearly two runs lower than his ERA, and his BABIP is almost 90 points higher than league average despite a lack of hard contact. Opponents have a 33.8 percent chase rate against him, more than six percentage points higher than a season ago.

Per Baseball Savant, no pitcher has been hurt more by his defense. Through Sunday’s start, the Astros are at -4 runs prevented with Burrows on the mound and -5 outs above average.

Burrows hasn’t lived up to the high expectations the Astros had for him when he was acquired last winter, but they didn’t make the trade for five starts. The Astros traded for Burrows because they thought he could help lead their rotation for the next five seasons, and there are still reasons to think that could still be the case.

Carson Benge has had a bit of a rough start to his big league career. 

The young slugger put together a much-needed big night at the plate on Thursday, though, helping the Mets pick up their second straight win over the Twins. 

Benge opened his showing jumping on a first pitch Joe Ryan fastball up in the zone, ripping it 95 mph off the right-center fence for a one out double. 

He came around to score a few batters later on a sacrifice fly. 

The lefty did even more damage against Ryan his next time up, this time leading off the fourth by lifting a second-pitch splitter 388 feet over the right field fence.

This one left the bat at a whopping 105.7 mph. 

Benge struck out in his next plate appearance, then Tommy Pham pinch-hit for him when a lefty was brought in to the game with two on in the bottom of the eighth. 

Pham, of course, drew a walk and then Bo Bichette delivered his first big knock as a Met with a go-ahead bases-clearing double into the left-center gap. 

The 23-year-old finished 2-for-3, with the knocks being his second double and second homer of the season. 

“He was just getting the barrel though the hitting zone and hitting balls to the pull-side,” Carlos Mendoza said. “The first off the wall and then the homer, overall I think it’s just shorter and more direct to the ball.”

Benge is still hitting just .159 on the season, but it was encouraging to see him show off some of that pull-side pop. 

BOSTON — In his 38th career plate appearance as a pinch hitter, Cody Bellinger tripled his RBI total.

After starting Thursday’s game on the bench, Bellinger entered in the seventh-inning with the bases loaded and the Yankees trailing by a run and came through with a two-run single that sent them to a 4-2 win over the Red Sox, completing a sweep at Fenway Park.

Bellinger only had one career pinch-hit RBI before Thursday, but picked a clutch spot for his next two, coming against righty reliever Greg Weissert to help get Cam Schlittler the win in his first hometown start.

“It’s a hard thing to do,” Bellinger said. “But we got a bunch of guys in here, a lot of success this year [pinch hitting] and I just want to continue doing that. You really just prepare as much as you can and when your name’s called, I stick within myself and my plan and take my swing.”

Aaron Boone, who said he told Bellinger, “Nice off-day,” said he was not surprised to see him deliver.

“I mean, that’s Cody. He’s getting paid handsomely because he’s good at that,” Boone said of the outfielder who re-signed on a five-year, $162.5 million contract in January. “Just a really good at-bat, smoking the ball the other way and putting us in a great spot. He’s a great player, simple as that.”

Gerrit Cole made his second rehab start Thursday with High-A Hudson Valley, building up to 52 pitches across 4 ¹/₃ innings in which he gave up two runs and five hits while striking out four.

The ace is expected to use most, if not all, of his 30-day rehab clock as he finishes off his comeback from Tommy John surgery.

“[My arm] is feeling good,” Cole said, according to video provided by the Hudson Valley Renegades. “It’s responding good to all the new stimulus, so we’ll keep plugging away.”

Carlos Rodón will make his first rehab start Friday with Hudson Valley, and Boone reiterated that the left-hander is “closer” to a return than Cole. Rodón is expected to make at least three rehab starts.

Gerrit Cole strikes out the side! Got him swinging 4 Ks tonight for Cole pic.twitter.com/9wiEDP4FvS

— Hudson Valley Renegades (@HVRenegades) April 23, 2026

Anthony Volpe had Thursday off from his rehab assignment at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, but he is expected to play nine innings at shortstop Friday and Saturday and then DH on Sunday, at which point the Yankees will reevaluate whether he is ready to return to the big leagues.

Boone declined to say whether Volpe could be in play for the Yankees series against the Rangers that begins Monday in Arlington, Texas, though it would not be surprising if they waited to activate him until they return home next Friday for a series against the Orioles.

“He’s getting close,” Boone said. “As this weekend unfolds, we’ll get a better idea.”

Ben Rice, Schlittler, Will Warren and Boone went to Boston Children’s Hospital this week to visit patients including Walker, a 7-year-old Westchester native who is awaiting a heart transplant.

He made a sign that read “Play like a [heart] warrior today” that the Yankees hung up in their clubhouse at Fenway Park on Thursday.

“It was awesome,” Boone said. “Grateful I got to go do that, to meet him and a few of the other kids over there. Walker’s family was awesome. He’s got a lot of personality and super upbeat. Just fun hanging with him. I know he’ll be yelling, ‘Let’s go Yankees’ around six o’clock over there. Hoping we hear it from the hospital.”

The league told Boone that Ryan Yarbrough’s balk against the Angels last Thursday — which ultimately led to the manager getting ejected for arguing the call — was not actually a balk.

The Savannah Bananas game scheduled for Saturday at Yankee Stadium has been moved to Friday at 7:30 p.m. because of the threat of inclement weather.

BOSTON — There were the three victories. There were the three losses for the Red Sox. There was pitching excellence. There were timely hits.

During a sweep at Fenway Park that included virtually only positives for the Yankees, among the club’s most encouraging developments was a possible breakthrough from Jazz Chisholm Jr.

The talented second baseman went his first 21 games without a multihit game. Against the Red Sox, he went 2-for-3 in multihit games.

Chisholm did not launch a home run in his first 23 games, but in the series finale, he wrapped a shot around the Pesky Pole, allowing him to exhale.

In three games, he spiked his OPS from .498 to .556. And in the final game, he felt as if he found what had been troubling him by backing away from the plate and assuming a more closed-off stance.

“I feel like I’ve been opening a little bit, and I feel like that helped me close up a little bit and just backing off [the plate],” Chisholm said after the stance tweak immediately paid off in the 4-2 victory Thursday.

A day prior, Chisholm felt his more open stance and crowding the plate was leading him to flare balls to left rather than drive them.

After the adjustments, the lefty swinger pulled an inside fastball from lefty Payton Tolle and snuck it around the right field pole in the fifth inning.

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In the seventh, he singled hard to center against lefty Danny Coulombe. In the eighth, he grounded into a 103.8 mph force-out against lefty Tyler Samaniego.

“Probably his best group of at-bats, especially off some tough lefty matchups there,” manager Aaron Boone said of Chisholm, who went 2-for-4 with a strikeout and two runs scored. “So good to see that.”

Asked if the lack of home runs was on his mind, Chisholm smiled and said, “I wouldn’t say home runs was on my mind — it would be hits.” But he was not overly concerned because it is still only April.

Nonetheless, Chisholm is hitting .188, and his one home run in 24 games does not put him on pace for the 50 he has said he wants to hit by the end of the season. During a walk year, he and the Yankees would have preferred a better start.

But Chisholm’s April last season was his worst month of what became an All-Star season. Perhaps he takes time to get going. Perhaps he needed a couple tweaks to get going.

“I tend to have a couple problems early in the season,” Chisholm said. “But at the end of the day, it feels good to finally get one [homer] in there.”

With windy conditions playing a noticeable role throughout the night, Mizzou fell to Arkansas, marking their eighth straight loss despite a strong outing from starting pitcher Josh McDevitt and an explosive start at the plate.

“We have to play better baseball,” head coach Kerrick Jackson said. “We can’t make some of the mistakes that we make, and then, more importantly, when they make mistakes, we have to be able to capitalize off of it. We don’t have to do anything over the top. We don’t have to be heroes. We just have to play good baseball.”

Tee Off at Taylor night featured a giveaway golf hat, and the Tigers came out hot early. 

Offense Struck Early

Jase Woita, batting leadoff for the second time this season, swung at a first-pitch strike and blasted a home run to left field. Kam Durnin followed with a hit-by-pitch, and freshman Blaize Ward continued his recent surge with a two-run shot to left, making it 3-0 Mizzou in just four pitches, and his third home run in five games. 

On the mound, McDevitt started strong, working through early trouble in the first inning with bases loaded by recording two strikeouts to limit the damage. He settled in from there, adding two more strikeouts in the second and throwing a clean 1-2-3 third inning.

Arkansas began to respond as the game progressed. After being held mostly quiet, TJ Pompey launched his tenth home run of the season to right field in the fifth, cutting the lead to 3-1. 

McDevitt continued to deal, tying his season-high in strikeouts during the fifth, before ultimately setting a new career high with 11 in the seventh inning. However, after he exited with two runners on, Trey Lawrence allowed a hit up the middle that tied the game 3-3.

Arkansas starter Hunter Dietz finished with eight strikeouts, allowing seven hits and three runs over seven innings.

Where it All Slipped Away

Momentum quickly shifted in the eighth when Zack Steward hit a two-run homer to right field, giving Arkansas a 5-3 lead, with the wind again playing a factor in balls traveling to the outfield.

Offensively, the Tigers cooled off after their fast start. Woita added a second hit, and Pierre Seals and Cameron Benson each contributed singles, but Mizzou struggled to string together runs late.

In the ninth, Ian Lohse delivered a scoreless inning to keep Mizzou within reach, which was the first time for him since February. 

Mateo Serna walked and later scored on a groundout by Donovan Jordon, who pinch hit for Keegan Knutson, cutting the deficit to 5-4. However, Tyler Macon who pinch hit for Isaiah Frost, struck out to end the game.

What’s Next

Mizzou will look to bounce back in their next matchup against Arkansas at 7 p.m. Friday, April 23, hoping to snap their losing streak.

“I still firmly believe that this team hasn’t synced up,” Woita said. “Our best baseball when the staff’s been on, the hitters have been off, vice versa, so I firmly believe that we can hang with anybody in the country when we’re playing our best baseball. I’m just excited for the chance to go out and do that again.”

With Brady Kehlenbrink taking the mound tomorrow, it will be a game worth watching. 

To follow along and read more about Mizzou Baseball, follow @Rock MNation,@SophBleedsLA and @Henry_C81, on twitter/x.

Christian Scott's first Mets outing in almost two years was one to forget.

He lasted 1.1 IP after allowing one run on five walks, including 18 strikes on 43 pitches, in his return from Tommy John surgery.

"It was great to get out there with the team," the 26-year-old RHP said after Thursday's 10-8 win at Citi Field. "First, unbelievable job by the offense today, grinding out at-bats through all nine innings, did a great job against all their arms. Bullpen did a really good job, too ... I didn't do my job, but they did their job and that's why we're here with a win today."

Scott struck out Byron Buxton to start the game before walking four of his next six batters and allowing a two-out run on Austin Martin's bases-loaded walk.

A four-pitch walk to start the second inning against Brooks Lee was followed by a fly out, but a balk and a hit batter on an 0-2 count forced manager Carlos Mendoza's hand.

"He didn't have command," Mendoza said. "Couldn't throw the ball over the plate. The velo was there, but he lost the strike zone. It got kind of hard on him after that."

Before debuting for New York (9-16) against Minnesota (12-13), Scott made three starts with Triple-A Syracuse. After a rough first outing, he rebounded in his subsequent two performances.

"I didn't really have a good feel for anything today," Scott said. "The fastball was up a lot, cutter was up a lot. Try to make adjustments in the zone and start nibbling. Got away from being competitive in the strike zone like I am. Wasn't at my best, so learn from it, move on and turn the page."

His last MLB start was July 21, 2024. He logged 47.1 IP over nine starts, pitching to a 4.56 ERA and 1.20 WHIP and showing flashes as one of the Mets' top prospects.

"I don't think so," Scott said when asked if nerves factored into Thursday's outing. "I was definitely excited to be here, for sure. ... Once I started walking two or three guys, starting to nibble a little bit, start placing the ball in the strike zone instead of being confident with my stuff in the strike zone -- wasn't really who I am as a pitcher. So learn from it, move on and I trust my stuff. I have a lot of confidence that I belong here, so I've just got to do a better job of showing that and take advantage of the opportunities I get.

Scott will get another start "as of right now, yes," Mendoza said. However, the Mets' pitching options are in flux after the bullpen went 7.2 innings on Thursday.

"We've got to go back here and see where we're at as far as bullpen for the next few days after being aggressive the past few days here and how much we use those guys," Mendoza said. "... He's going to continue to get opportunities. He's a big part of this team, and he'll be all right."

Scott would be in line to start next Wednesday at the Washington Nationals.

"I feel like we're past the 'checkpoints' part, really," Scott said. "I'm just trying to go out there and compete and get as many wins as we possibly can. I felt great physically, so that's definitely not it -- that's the reason why what happened today. ... Learn from it, move on and bounce back."

Atlanta Braves outfielder Michael Harris II exited Thursday’s game in the seventh inning after experiencing left quad tightness. Fortunately, the move was only precautionary and Harris is expected to be on the lineup card tonight against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Harris had a huge series against the Washington Nationals, where he logged six hits, two of them leaving the ballpark. He also recorded six RBI and did not strike out once. The Braves will hope he can carry that momentum into another strong performance this series.

More Braves News:

JR Ritchie’s MLB debut started horribly but shaped up to be spectacular. He went on to throw seven innings, allowed two runs, two walks, and struck out seven. 

Tate Southisene knocked a leadoff homer during Wednesday’s GreenJackets game. More in the minor league recap.

MLB News:

The New York Mets placed shortstop Francisco Lindor on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain. He is expected to miss a significant amount of time.

The Kansas City Royals have revealed plans for a new ballpark in downtown KC.

From the Feed:

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