Category: MLB

Colorado Rockies fans assuredly did not have high expectations for the 2026 season. The team lost 119 games in 2025, and they didn’t seem to significantly upgrade the roster in the offseason. So, when the fans sat down to watch their home opener against the Phillies on Friday afternoon, it’s not like most of them had dreams of watching a pennant winner.

But they probably hoped for a little more than this. By the time they got situated in their seats, the Phillies had already jumped out to a 7-0 lead. In what may serve as a harbinger of things to come at Coors Field this season, the visiting team cruised to a 10-1 victory.

Quite a few Phillies batters were off to slow starts to the season, but there was nothing slow about their start on Friday. Facing former teammate Michael Lorenzen, Trea Turner led off the game with a double, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper followed with walks, and Alec Bohm got two of those runners home with a single.

On 'em early! pic.twitter.com/71VGmuWuui

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 3, 2026

A Bryson Stott double scored another run before Brandon Marsh buried a ball deep into the stands to make it 6-0.

Still thinking about how far Brandon Marsh hit this baseball ☄️ pic.twitter.com/TE7iFRDQ5V

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 3, 2026

The Phillies still weren’t done. J.T Realmuto hit a double, although it was really a pop up that former Phillie Mickey Moniak lost in the sun. When reading up on the Rockies, I saw someone describe Moniak as the worst defensive outfielder in the game. (Nick Castellanos, hold my beer!) Moniak had a .824 OPS in 2025, but was still worth negative wins above replacement, which is really tough to do. (At least some team wasn’t dumb enough to choose him with the top overall pick in the draft, right?)

Turner’s second hit of the inning drove home Realmuto to make it 7-0.

7️⃣-0 pic.twitter.com/2AHCCBQ2Kf

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 3, 2026

In the second inning, Harper put another ball into the seats, marking his second straight game with a home run, and quieting some of the worry about his slow start to the season.

BRYCE'S TURN! pic.twitter.com/kt57hERcQK

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 3, 2026

They tacked on another run in the third when an Alec Bohm infield single (those are words you don’t see very often) allowed Turner to come home after his third hit of the game.

The Phillies concluded their scoring in the fifth when Schwarber managed to outdo Marsh by hitting a ball 460 feet.

SCHWARBOMB TO THE SECOND DECK! pic.twitter.com/kMrmojD1VX

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 3, 2026

Friday also served as a “get right” game for Aaron Nola. Nola and Lorenzen were teammates on the Italian team in the World Baseball Classic, and unlike Lorenzen, Nola had a terrific outing. His curveball looked sharp, and he kept the ball in the yard. He allowed one run in 6.1 innings to go along with nine strikeouts.

On the other hand, Lorenzen was the one to make history.

🚨 PITCHERGAMI 🚨

Michael Lorenzen just threw a line that has NEVER happened in MLB history:

3.0 IP | 12 H | 9 ER | 2 BB | 2 K

PHI @ COL
That's the 25th Pitchergami of 2026 and 1 of 83,249+ unique lines on record.

— Pitchergami (@pitchergami) April 3, 2026

The Phillies now find themselves on a three-game winning streak, and most of their players should be feeling much better about themselves. They’ll be back in action on Saturday afternoon with Taijuan Walker on the mound. Like Nola, Walker is hoping for a rebound after a poor season debut. While it would be great if that happens, it would also be great if the Phillies could have their bats stay hot.

Major League Baseball’s opening night coverage has been the subject of polarizing opinions.

And this is something Netflix is no stranger to.

Netflix had major streaming issues during its airing of boxing in late 2024, during Jake Paul’s fight with Mike Tyson, which also featured Amanda Serrano’s bout with Katie Taylor, showing a consistent lag. This even led Netflix to be the target of a $50 million lawsuit over the quality of the streaming.

The company is not quite in the same position now following their airing of Yankees-Giants as part of MLB Opening Day, but the online chirping is loud, which Elle Duncan — who joined Netflix as a host following a lengthy tenure on ESPN — responded to on a recent episode of “Pablo Torre Finds Out” this week.

Critics have pointed to non-baseball personalities being used and a new-look scorebug as some of the primary issues.

“Whenever there’s criticism that I saw like, ‘It was just so Netflix. It was not for baseball purists,” Duncan acknowledged, adding, “This was not for baseball purists. You’ll watch it anywhere. This was for the baseball-curious.”

Duncan noted that the broadcast is intended for a broader audience beyond traditional baseball fans.

“A lot of what Netflix is doing in the sports world is, yes, for the people that are always going to watch those sports, but also the people that maybe tuned into to watch “Love is Blind,” saw the button for ‘Opening Day on Netflix,’ and thought, ‘All right, I’ll check it out,’” Duncan said.

Duncan disagrees with the criticisms — which include missing the first-ever Automatic Ball Strike challenge due to a mid-inning dugout interview — and mentioned that baseball fans ultimately expected something they weren’t going to fully get.

“This is like going to a Mexican restaurant and bitching that they don’t have barbecue,” said Duncan. “They advertise as a Mexican restaurant. It’s your fault that you somehow thought they were somehow gonna serve barbecue.”

She later added: “Netflix has made no qualms about who they are. We’re going to eventicize these things, we’re gonna pull people from the Netflix universe. That’s what we’re going to do.”

Netflix will broadcast the Home Run Derby on July 13 and the “Field of Dreams” game between the Phillies and Twins one month later.

The Seattle Seahawks have the rare distinction of hosting the NFL’s opening night game on a Wednesday, which will impact the schedules of other Seattle sports teams.

Sept. 9 was supposed to be an evening game for the Mariners against the Texas Rangers at T-Mobile Park, with the Sounders hosting Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer play at Lumen Field. The Sounders didn’t waste much time moving their match to Thursday, Oct. 1 at 6:30 pm PT, but the Mariners have now made their schedule change. Anyone up for a day-night Mariners-Seahawks doubleheader?

Game Time Update 🚨

First pitch on Wednesday, September 9, vs. the Rangers has moved from 6:40 p.m. to 1:10 p.m. due to the NFL schedule and to avoid overlapping games in the SODO area. pic.twitter.com/UVg9syBMJY

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 2, 2026

The Seahawks are slated to begin the 2026 NFL season at 5:20 pm PT, so unless the Mariners and Rangers have an extra innings marathon there should be some time between the end of the M’s and the start of the Seahawks.

Seattle’s Week 1 opponent will likely not be revealed until closer to the schedule release in mid-May, but it’s a certainty that the Seahawks will be unveiling their second Super Bowl banner regardless of who they’re facing.

We have achieved one week of Royals baseball, and the Royals, despite an anemic offense outside of one game, have managed not to lose more than they’ve won. Now comes one of the bigger tests for the team in the early-going as Atlanta was without many of their preferred starters, and the Twins simply don’t look very good. The Brewers may not get any respect from the pre-season projections, but they made it all the way to the NLCS last season and seem to be one of those teams that keep finding ways to be good.

In the series opener, the Royals are going to be relying on a rookie making his first MLB start, but not his first MLB appearance. Michael Wacha is having his start pushed back while dealing with an illness, so Luinder Avila will get the call. Avila made a few appearances out of the bullpen last September and impressed many while he was at it, pitching to a 1.49 ERA in 13 relief appearances. During Spring Training, manager Matt Quatraro indicated that he saw Avila as having front-line starter potential, but most outsiders agreed that if Avila was going to contribute this year, it was going to be out of the bullpen. Craig Brown over at Into the Fountains, though, told me he thought that Avila would be the first starter up. So kudos to him for getting that right. Bailey Falter was added to the IL in a corresponding move after a near-disastrous ninth-inning appearance on Wednesday.

Chad Patrick will get the ball for the Brewers, making his second start of the season. His first start saw him go only 4.1 innings against the White Sox, striking out 4, walking 1, and giving up a run in a no-decision that would become a Brewers win. Patrick is a 27-year-old sophomore who pitched to a 3.53 ERA in his rookie campaign last year. He faced the Royals in his second big league appearance and first start, pitching 4.2 scoreless innings in a game the Brewers won 5-0.

Last year, Patrick threw six pitches, but three are variations of fastballs – a four-seamer, a cutter, and a sinker – which he combined to throw 86.5% of the time. He also mixes in a slider, a slurve, and a changeup, but every kind of fastball gets thrown more than those three pitches combined. In his first start this year, he threw 74 pitches. Six were slurves, two were changeups, and he didn’t throw a single slider. His cutter is a very good pitch, though, getting lots of chases and whiffs despite the lack of variety and the fact that it’s kind of slow for a cutter. Patrick can struggle with the strike zone at times, so the new, (hopefully) patient Royals might have an advantage over him that the free-swingers of last year didn’t.

Lineups

Carter Jensen continues to ride the pine after oversleeping yesterday. Starling Marte gets his first game action in exactly one week since his last, on Opening Day. Without Carter in the lineup, Jac Caglianone remains bumped up to the fifth spot in the lineup; hopefully, he’ll get some more hits there tonight than he did yesterday afternoon. Nick Loftin gets the start over Jonathan India. Despite Wednesday’s grand slam, India is having a poor start to the season, including popping up fully one-third of the balls he’s put in play. I know it worked against Royce Lewis in the rain, but that’s no way to get a hit.

You know sometimes when things in baseball appear to be true, but you dig a little deeper and they’re really not? There has always been a feeling when Aaron Nola is on the mound that the Phillies just don’t score runs for him. That’s something I’ve always thought was true, so it required a quick trip to Baseball Reference to confirm it.

Turns out: not really true! In 2024, his last really healthy year, the Phillies scored 5.5 runs per inning he was on the mound, which was 19th best in all of baseball. The team scores for him, he just struggled to keep the score in the Phillies’ favor. Today, the offense did quite well getting him support, batting around in the first and never looking back.

For the Rockies, the first inning was truly ugly. Michael Lorenzen, the guy who willingly wanted to sign for them to try his hand at pitching in Colorado, got his first chance at seeing why the mile high air chews up pitchers who lack quality stuff and spits them out. The first inning rolled like this:

• double by Trea Turner
• walk to Kyle Schwarber
• walk to Bryce Harper
• two-run single by Alec Bohm (2-0, Phillies)
• RBI double by Bryson Stott (3-0)
• strikeout by Adolis Garcia
• three-run home run by Brandon Marsh (6-0)

A 454-FOOT SHOT FOR BRANDON MARSH! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/JJtSlyjHaj

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 3, 2026

• double by J.T. Realmuto that was lost in the sun by Mickey Moniak
• groundout by Justin Crawford
• RBI single by Turner (7-0)
• groundout by Schwarber

That’s what the experts call a “bad outing”.

While we thank Lorenzen for his no-hitter he threw here in Philadelphia, the Phillies really needed this game to get their offense going. The fun didn’t end there. In the second inning, Harper unloaded on a pitch from Lorenzen for his second home run of the game.

Bryce Harper crushes his second homer of 2026 💪 pic.twitter.com/HzsCDgFVM0

— MLB (@MLB) April 3, 2026

In the third, Bohm singled in another run for the Phillies, making the score 9-0 and ending Lorenzen’s day.

Meanwhile, Nola just cruised. Tasked with keeping a bad Rockies lineup off the board, he just threw strikes and kept the scoreboard empty. His curveball was crisp, his fastball was spotted and he scattered by a few hits to maintain the lead and shut down the opposition.

Of course, no blowout win is complete without Kyle Schwarber hitting a missile, so he did that.

A double-decker 460-foot blast for Kyle Schwarber 😳

(MLB x @MountainDew) pic.twitter.com/RfbCz4xnwR

— MLB (@MLB) April 3, 2026

Curiously, the team was then in turn held in check by Valente Bellozo yet again. He relieved for the Rockies and ended up finishing the game for them, the Schwarber blast the lone blemish on his record. His weird hex he has on the Phillies is something to be studied.

It’s the proper way to begin a trip to Colorado, particularly after struggling at home at the plate. They’ll look to keep it up tomorrow night.

I personally wasn’t in Boston, but looking at it on TV, that was quintessential Red Sox Opening Day weather, eh? 50s and sunny, the white uniforms back on and a city wanting to kick this team in the backside.

Well, they thankfully didn’t make this one too stressful on any of us as they rolled to a 5-2 win.

Studs

Sonny Gray (6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 K)

now THIS was the Sonny Gray start the Red Sox needed. Not even 90 pitches, six frames of pretty clean ball save for that fifth inning. Give me more of that kind of Sonny, please.

Marcelo Mayer (2-for-2, 2 runs, 2 RBI, 1 HR)

I don’t understand why Cora won’t let Mayer roll more and work out his growing pains. When he’s on like this, he’s such a consistent and smooth hitter. It’s a presence this lineup desperately needs, as I alluded to this morning.

The Bullpen (3.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H)

The Italian Stallion Greg Weissert, no nicknamed Justin Slaten and the Cuban Missile Aroldis Chapman were phenomenal. Nuff said. Well, Chappy passing Pap is something else too.

Duds

Trevor Story (0-for-4, 1 K)

Story is in an early season slump and it shows. Completely the opposite of two years ago when he started on a tear. Then again? He also got hurt for the rest of the season three weeks in so we don’t want a repeat of that.

Play of the Game

I’m really torn because Marcelo hitting a home run is fantastic, Mut Contreras really needed that and it was the game-winning hit too.

The Double-A Birmingham Barons have been the brightest spot in the Chicago White Sox organization over these last few dreadful seasons, winning their second consecutive Southern League championship in 2025. This season will have a mix of familiar faces alongside some recent free agent signings, but it’s likely we’ll see some fluctuation throughout the season depending on how the major league season progresses.

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Starting Pitching
With Hagen Smith, Noah Schultz, Wikelman González and others moving up to Triple-A, the 2026 rotation might look a little different.

Righthander Riley Gowens will return as a staple to the Birmingham starting rotation after settling into Double-A ball nicely in his first full season at that level. Gowens tossed the most innings on the team in 2025 (132) at a solid 3.32 ERA and 1.189 WHIP. He also rang up 151 batters at a strong 28% strikeout rate. His walk rate is still a bit higher than the White Sox would like (9% BB%), but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him make the leap to Charlotte early this season; he’s more than proven that he can perform at his current level.

Despite making just four starts with the Barons in 2025, lefthander Lucas Gordon was impressive upon moving up from the High-A Winston-Salem Dash towards the end of the season. In 21 innings, he allowed five runs on nine hits, posting a 2.11 ERA and 0.750 WHIP while striking out 24 batters and walking seven. Gordon’s strikeout rate also jumped from 25.4% with the Dash to more than 31% with Birmingham, and his 2.06 FIP is in close alignment to his ERA, showing consistency if you strip out the defense.

Connor McCullough was injured for majority of the 2024 season but came back strong in 2025, joining the Barons in July after a rehab assignment with Winston-Salem and shifting back into a starting role almost seamlessly. McCullough made 13 starts (41 innings) and despite recording four losses, he ended the year with a 3.43 ERA and 0.894 WHIP, highlighting his stellar 5.8% walk rate to accompany his sound 23% strikeout percentage.

Balancing out the rotation with another durable lefty arm is Jake Palisch, who made 13 starts last season of his 29 appearances, ultimately getting the call up to the South Side at midseason but appearing in just one inning. Across both starting and relief roles, Palisch flashed a 2.14 ERA in 105 innings with a 1.067 WHIP, though he had a below-average strikeout rate (16.1%) with the Barons last season. Palisch’s elevated 3.30 FIP in comparison to his ERA suggests that an elite defense behind him might also be providing some support, so it would be interesting to see how he would perform in the majors with the current mess of a White Sox defense.

Relievers
The bullpen has quite a few returning players in Eric Adler, Phil Fox and Jared Kelley. Adler struggled throughout the 2025 season, putting up a 4.78 ERA with the Barons while averaging at a 5.89 ERA on the season, but both Kelley and Fox posted ERAs in the mid-3.00s. In his first pro season, Fox tossed 59 2/3 innings with the Dash and his 11 K/9 and 30% strikeout rate definitely helped.

New additions to the Birmingham arm barn include three recent left-handed pitching signees in Chase Watkins, Jacob Heatherly and Rylan Kaufman.

• Heatherly has struggled with shoulder injuries in the past and holds a career 5.35 ERA. Though some of his pitches have decent scouting grades in the 50-55 range, he lacks command and accumulated a whopping 22% walk rate in 2023 and even higher at 25% in 2024, completely offsetting his high strikeout rates.
• Kaufman is a former Top 30 prospect in the Kansas City but he couldn’t fully adjust to the advanced competition, averaging a 5.41 ERA in his minors career. He ended up needing Tommy John surgery and was out for the 2025 season, but has worked his fastball back up into the mid-90s.
• The South Siders picked up Watkins just last week, after he was released by the Cubs on March 23. Watkins amassed a 2.65 ERA across 40 2/3 innings in High-A, and a sharp 0.92 ERA in 29 1/3 innings once moving up to Double-A.

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Catchers
Both returning from last season, Calvin Harris and Jorge Corona will continue to split duties behind the plate, with Harris likely getting more innings. Corona has floated on and off the development list, ultimately slashing .170/.314/.270 in 100 at-bats. Harris made the jump to the Barons 31 games into the season after posting a solid .768 OPS in 119 at-bats, and slashed .253/.317/.312 in 186 ABs with Birmingham, and allowed three passed balls in 469 2/3 innings.

Position Players
If you don’t know his name by now, outfielder Braden Montgomery is one to watch this season, ranking as the top White Sox prospect at South Side Sox and at 34 in the MLB Top 100. The 22-year-old flew through the minors in his first year with the team in 2025, slashing .270/.360/.444 with a solid .804 OPS in 448 at-bats. Upon moving up to Double-A, his stats remained consistent against the tougher competition, and his defensive ability in the outfield (strong arm, speed) give him to the tools to be an All-Star caliber player in the future.

Another exciting player within the White Sox organization is Rikuu Nishida, whose ability to get on base and subsequently steal them is almost unmatched. Aside from Sam Antonacci, Nishida’s .403 OBP led the team in 2025, and he is excellent at being selective at the plate, swinging 39% of the time but making contact on nearly 86% of his swings. Not only is he elite at making contact, but Nishida walks at a higher rate than he strikes out with 75 walks compared to 69 strikeouts last season. Nishida started as a second baseman, but has since adjusted into the outfield, playing the majority of his games in right and center last season. He begins his second full year and third overall in Double-A, however, so someone at the White Sox is not impressed.

Rounding out the outfield will be Caden Connor and Wilfred Veras. Connor posted a .708 OPS with a .266 BA in 342 at-bats with the Barons, and earned a promotion up to Charlotte for 13 games. He was even better with the Knights, and posted a .422 on-base percentage that factored into his .832 OPS. If not for the half-dozen fringe major-leaguers the White Sox acquired in the offseason, Connor could well be starting 2026 in Charlotte. Veras’ arrow is pointing in the opposite direction, as his performance regressed compared to where he was at in 2022 and 2023. In fact, Nishida has nothing on Veras, as Veras is beginning his third straight full season and fourth overall in Birmingham. He slashed just .215/.293/.327 with a .620 OPS that dropped by 17% year-over-year. It’s possible Veras has reached his peak, and it will be interesting to see if he’s made any adjustments heading into this season.

Last but not least, the infield will have mostly all returning playerss with Jason Matthews, Jordan Sprinkle, Ryan Galanie and the recently-signed Andy Weber.

• Matthews had a hard time at the plate last season, putting up a measly .549 OPS in 211 ABs with Birmingham.
• Middle infielder Sprinkle was efficient enough with the Low-A Cannon Ballers (.271/.411/.295) to be promoted to Winston-Salem where he struggled to adjust, and ultimately to Double-A to close out the season. Sprinkle is quick and is able to steal bases when he gets on, but he lacks the raw power to efficiently drive in runs.
• Galanie holds down first base with plenty of power, and he’s fairly selective at the plate and doesn’t strike out a lot. He led the team in RBIs in 2025 (71), and mashed 19 doubles and seven homers.
• Weber was was signed to a minor league contract after electing free agency out of the Diamondbacks system. Likely to play second base, Weber was mostly with the Arizona’s Triple-A team last season where he posted solid numbers with a .310/.368/.434 slash line.

There’s plenty of talent with the Barons, and we’ll likely see a revolving door of players throughout the season. While maybe not having the most raw power at the plate, they have some solid arms that can keep them in games. So it might be best not to rule out a three-peat.

The Cincinnati Reds hit the road for the first time during Thursday’s day off, and on Friday began their first road series of the 2026 season.

Fortunately for them, they opened the scoring in their game against the Texas Rangers the very same way they ended it – with a major 2-run homer from a veteran off to an otherwise slow start.

Spencer Steer swatted a 2-run blast off Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore in the Top of the 2nd inning to open Cincinnati’s ledger in this one, and Tyler Stephenson effectively closed it with a 2-run homer of his own in the Top of the 9th inning off veteran righty reliever Chris Martin. Stephenson’s came with the game tied 3-3, and closer Emilio Pagan – himself a veteran entering play on Friday having sputtered out of the gate – hammered down a perfect Bottom of the 9th to give Cincinnati the 5-3 victory.

It was a classic back and forth tie that lent itself to need a big hit late, and that’s precisely what Stephenson provided. He battled into a deep count with Martin, fouling off pitches as he worked for one he could mash, and he eventually went the other way over the wall in right-center for the blast that gave Cincinnati the victory, as the Reds shared on Twitter shortly after it happened.

Now that's an AB, @Tyler_Step22❗️#ATOBTTRpic.twitter.com/unq9la5Fjx

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 3, 2026

Steer had doubled in front of Tyler, so he scored on the play. That gave him a pair of extra-base hits, pair of ribbies, and pair of runs scored on the day. Hopefully it’s a sign that he’s getting his bat going, as he’s going to be very much needed to anchor the lineup with his defensive versatility daily (as well as on days against a LHP starter). Stephenson, who’s going to get today’s Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game award, similarly went 2 for 4 with a pair of ribbies – he gets the nod for the WPA boost on the homer, I suppose.

Reds 5, Rangers 3, and happy Reds fans a million.

Other Notes

• Elly De La Cruz chipped in with a solo homer, his third of the year. It was another laser hit from the right-side of the plate, which is an incredibly good sign.
• Eugenio Suarez did not blast a mighty dinger today, but he did have another pair of hits.
• Tony Santillan kept his season ledger clean after another incredibly effective 10-pitch inning yielding zero runs. Sam Moll needed 12 pitches for his, but it was a similar good ending.
• Rhett Lowder will toe the rubber in Saturday’s game between these two clubs, doing so opposite fellow former college standout Kumar Rocker. First pitch in that one is slated for 7:05 PM ET.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Shohei Ohtani homered and the game turned into something resembling a piranha feeding at the Los Angeles Zoo, the Dodgers feasting on soft-tossing Miles Mikolas with the voracity expected of a $415-million team.

Their week-long nightmare was over. 

The Dodgers hadn’t forgotten how to score runs. They were noticeably relieved, and they deserved to be, but their debaucherous offensive display in their 13-6 victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday obscured another potential problem.

The two-time defending World Series champions might have a starting-pitching problem.

Again.

Whether they actually have an issue depends on back-end-of-the-rotation pitchers such as Emmet Sheehan. 

Regarding Sheehan specifically, the pertinent question is which was more reflective of the pitcher he will be this season: The one who was rocked early in his start or the one who put up zeroes late?

Sheehan gave up three runs in the first inning and another one in the third. By the fourth inning, he was on his third time through the Nationals’ order. In a more important game, he might not have finished that frame.

Sheehan regrouped and gave the Dodgers 5 ⅔ innings, but the team still had to be uncertain of what it had in the 26-year-old right-hander. Sheehan lasted just 3 ⅓ innings in his previous start, which followed an uninspiring spring.

Already, the Dodgers are playing with a stick of dynamite in the combustible Roki Sasaki, who is scheduled to start on Sunday in the series finale against the Nationals. 

Sasaki pitched only four innings in his first start, and he failed to make it out of the first inning in his final game of a brutal exhibition season. The Dodgers are bracing themselves for the worst-case scenario. Justin Wrobleski is scheduled to move into the rotation on Monday for their series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, but manager Dave Roberts said they had him throw his bullpen a day earlier than usual in case he has to pitch in relief of Sasaki on Sunday.

The Dodgers have three legitimate Cy Young Award contenders on their active roster in Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow, and that’s with Blake Snell sidelined with shoulder fatigue. But they have no idea what they will get out of Sheehan, Sasaki and Wrobleski on any particular day.

Carrying one starter incapable of consistently taking down innings can exhaust a bullpen that has to pick up the slack. Carrying two of them is tantamount to asking for late-game Chernobyl-level meltdowns. Carrying three? Hoo boy.

“Obviously, ideally, you’d like to carry none,” Roberts said. “Truth be told, I don’t want any of those (types of) guys. When you’re a starter, part of the deal is you’ve got to log innings. It’s part of the hallmark of starters, and Emmet and Roki have got to graduate to that point.”

Is it sustainable to have a rotation that includes two inconsistent starters?

“It’s not sustainable, no,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers found that out last season. With their rotation ravaged by injuries – Yamamoto was the only starter who pitched the entire season – Dodgers relievers combined to pitch major-league-leading 657 ⅔ innings. Their bullpen earned-run average of 4.27 was fifth-worst in the National League, contributing to an underwhelming regular-season win total of 93.

Snell isn’t expected to return until the end of next month, and the onus will be on Sheehan, Sasaki and Wrobleski to pitch deep enough into games to ensure the bullpen remains relatively fresh.

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Sheehan acknowledged he had to do better than he did on Thursday.

“Obviously, it’s still a work in progress,” he said. “The stuff is not really where it should be right now. There’s more in the tank.”

Sheehan’s average fastball velocity was 95.6 mph last season, and that number has dropped significantly this year. The average speed of his fastball was 93.8 mph against the Nationals.

Sheehan blamed the decline in velocity to mechanics and not health. That claim was supported by how his two fastest pitches – clocked at 95.7 and 95.4 mph respectively – were thrown in the sixth inning.

The ever-upbeat Roberts said he put more stock in the second half of Sheehan’s start than the first.

“I think today was a step in the right direction,” he said. “I think we talked about (how) he has to give us length, and he did that today, touching six (innings). 

“He looked like a major league starter and not a guy that’s cutting his teeth.”

The Dodgers will need more of that, especially with Sasaki pitching just days after him.

The Cubs lost to the Guardians 4-1 Friday afternoon in Cleveland, but that’s not the big story of the day.

That, of course, is the apparent injury to Cade Horton in the second inning.

Here’s what happened [VIDEO].

It’s really hard to tell what actually went on there. There was no obvious sign of any sort of pain from Horton, but he immediately signaled for the dugout and left the game.

Later, it was announced by the Cubs via the Marquee Sports Network broadcast that Horton left due to “right forearm discomfort.” Which… isn’t good. That sort of thing is sometimes a precursor to Tommy John surgery. Or maybe it’s not. We just don’t know at this time. Hopefully, the Cubs will have an update later this evening, or tomorrow. For now all we, and the Cubs, can do is hope for the best.

Horton faced only four batters. From BCB’s JohnW53:

Before today, the last Cubs starter, excluding “openers,” to exit after facing no more than four batters was Alec Mills, on July 2, 2022, at home against the Red Sox. He struck out the leadoff man on a 2-2 count, then gave up a double on an 0-1 count. He injured his back, went on the Injured List and was lost for the season.

Colin Rea, who did such a good job last year filling into the rotation when Justin Steele was injured, did a great job in this one as well. He threw 3.1 innings, allowed four hits and a run and struck out four. If Rea needs to fill in, there’s at least a competent replacement for Horton, though obviously not at the same talent level.

Here’s a breakdown of Rea’s 57-pitch outing [VIDEO].

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. Pete Crow-Armstrong led off with a double and stole third. Miguel Amaya then doubled, with PCA scoring [VIDEO].

Amaya was serving as the DH in this one with Carson Kelly catching. He’s been doing that vs. left-handed starters. I continue to think that Amaya is primed to have a big offensive season, presuming he can stay healthy.

Hoby Milner relieved Rea in the fifth and allowed one inherited runner to score on a single by hotshot rookie Chase DeLauter, but four-time Gold Glover Ian Happ threw out the trailing runner at the plate [VIDEO].

Happ’s going to win another Gold Glove this year. That has value. I think it’d be worth keeping him around for a while longer.

Hunter Harvey relieved Milner in the seventh and served up a solo homer to Gabriel Arias that gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead. A walk to Steven Kwan followed and then DeLauter smashed a two-run shot, his fifth of the young season. (The Cubs have just six home runs as a team so far this year.) Not a good outing for Harvey, who faced just five batters, two of whom went deep.

Happ decided to challenge a strike three call leading off the ninth [VIDEO].

That was pretty obviously in the zone, but I suppose with two challenges left and three outs to go, it was worth using one.

This was yet another game where the offense simply didn’t produce — four hits and two walks isn’t going to score too many runs, and it didn’t. Can’t use the weather as an excuse here, the temp was in the 70s. The Cubs bats are simply going to have to do better.

The game was the fifth loss in a row for the Cubs in Cleveland dating to 2021, though the Cubs did sweep the Guardians at Wrigley Field last year. Hopefully, the result will be better tomorrow, and we’ll get good news about Horton. Fingers crossed.

The Cubs and Guardians will play the second game of this series Saturday evening at Progressive Field. Shōta Imanaga will start for the Cubs and Slade Cecconi goes for Cleveland. Game time is 6:15 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Fox-TV (regional — coverage map, scroll to the bottom of that link).

Aaron Judge perhaps set the tone for the Yankees’ 124th home opener Friday afternoon long before the first pitch or his key home run in the first inning. The night before the Yanks met the Marlins at Yankee Stadium, Judge sent a team-wide text:

“Suits tomorrow.”

So the Yankees showed up decked out in their finery, perhaps a sartorial declaration of a kind.

“That’s Cap…so everybody was fired up,” Ben Rice said.

Aaron Boone was grinning over the snazzy threads in the morning, hours before the Yankees beat the Marlins, 8-2. Seeing his players so nattily dressed, the manager said, helped show the importance of the first game of the year at Yankee Stadium.

“When they’re rolling in in suits today, I know that’s meaningful,” Boone said.

It’s been a remarkable season for the Yankees so far (caveat: it’s early). But the 6-1 Yanks ooze talent and potential. It all starts with Judge, just like, basically, their seventh game of the season did.

After the Marlins grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Xavier Edwards’ solo homer – the first home run allowed by a Yankee pitcher this season – Judge immediately responded. Trent Grisham led off with a walk and then Judge pounded a two-run homer for an instant lead. They never trailed again.

“They came out swinging, got a run on us,” Judge said. “Grish had a great at-bat in front of me. I'm just trying to do my job, which is to try to get him over, to get a good pitch and drive it. So, just happy to answer back.”

There is always outsized attention on Judge because he’s one of today’s great stars, probably the best hitter in baseball. It’s never too early – in some folks’ minds, anyway – to fret over his numbers if they are not Judge-ian. He entered Friday batting .125, not the sort of thing that goes unnoticed in the Yankee fishbowl, even if he had already hit two home runs so far, too.

If you are frantic over Judge’s start, maybe take a deep breath. It’ll be OK. Promise. Heck, he’s on pace for around 69 home runs right now.

Friday, his third homer put the Yankees ahead for good and was the highlight of what turned into a big game for both star and team. Judge reached base four times and was 2-for-3, scored twice, drove in three runs, walked and even stole a base. He was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded – more on that in a moment – to force in a run.

Beyond thumbing out texts to the boys, Judge has long been good at establishing something early in games. Friday’s homer was the 86th of his career in the first inning. Last year, he smacked 20 first-inning home runs, an MLB record, for a 94-win team.

Only two other Yankees had more first-inning homers in their careers – Babe Ruth (126) and Mickey Mantle (103). Those two sure played on a lot of winning teams, didn’t they? (Yes, we know they piled up championships, too, while Judge and these Yankees have not won the World Series. Yet).

It’s what they yearn to do. And their top tone-setter will surely play an enormous role in that pursuit. He authors some of the most meaningful swings among the current Yanks – since 2019, 138 of Judge’s 288 home runs have either tied the score or given the Yanks the lead, the team said.

That, in part, is why it’s “never a surprise,” Boone said, when Judge delivers like he did in the first inning. “Really good answer to them putting a run up on the board,” Boone said. “And, you know, I think it allowed Will (Warren, the starting pitcher) to get in a good rhythm, too.”

The Yanks got a jolt in the second inning when Judge was hit on the arm by an errant pitch from Marlins starter Eury Pérez with the bases full. Judge seemed fine and remained in the game, not that it wasn’t scary, too.

“Felt like he was probably OK, but I tend to jump up a little quicker when it’s him,” Boone said. “Yeah, you always hold your breath there a little bit, any time it’s running up and in there like that. I think it got him on the forearm, kind of the meaty part, so you knew in short order, we’re all right.”

Added Judge: “I've broken my wrist like that, so that's always your main concern. But once you feel like everything's intact, you should take it to first.”

The Yanks scored twice in the second inning without a hit, thanks to Pérez’s wildness and their own speed. They kept adding on, too. Rice homered in the seventh and smashed a two-run double in the eighth.

But Judge set the tone, stylistically and otherwise.

“That’s what he does best,” Rice said, referring to Judge’s vital homer.

“He’s so good at that.”

Ben Rice said that Aaron Judge texted in the Yankees group chat for everyone to wear suits for the home opener today pic.twitter.com/1fVwhlQ8tz

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 3, 2026

Blue Jays 4 at White Sox 5 (10)

A few weeks ago, I came across a humourous yet apt video describing this time of year as sucker punch spring for the swings in the weather. Apparently it also applies to the beginning of the season for the Blue Jays, as for the second successive game they took a tough extra inning loss that they even more painful than Wednesday’s.

Facing his former team, Dylan Cease was not particularly sharp, racking up 93 pitches without finishing the 5th inning, finishing with a final line of 3 runs on 5 hits in 4.1 innings. 3 walks against 6 strikeouts. He got into trouble right from the start, walking leadoff hitter Chase Meidroth before Munetaka Murakami drilled a single so hard he had to hold up at first to put runners on the corners.

Cease did limit the damage to one run, but another walk in the 3rd got him into more trouble in the 3rd. An infield single put two on, followed by a double steal which allowed Austin’s Hay single to plate two runs. The last walk with one out in the 5th inning ended his afternoon. Braydon Fisher held the line in retiring the next two hitters and working around back-to-back singles to start the 6th with a couple of strikeouts sandwiched around a pickoff. Brandon Little and Louis Varland followed with good shutout innings.

It looked like enough damage might already have been done however, as the Jays bats were largely asleep. Opener Grant Taylor dispatched them in order in the first. Sean Burke was welcomed rudely with a pair of doubles by Addison Barger and Alejandro Kirk to tie the game, but then he largely shut them down for the next 6 innings, working around a few hits here and there.

Just when it looked like the Jays might be going down as quietly as they did Wednesday afternoon, the White Sox went back to the bullpen for Jordan Leasure and once again the first two batters struck. Ernie Clement singled before Andres Gimenez resurrected the Jays’ hopes with a drive down the right field line for a game tying home run.

Skipping forward to extras, the Clement moved the Manfred Man over to third with one out but Gimenez struck out. The Jays caught a huge break when what should have been an inning ending roller to third pulled Murakami off the first base bag to plate the run.

It looked like that might be the decisive break, as Jeff Hoffman came out of the save. Despite the White Sox too moving their runner over with out, Hoffman too got a strikeout to leave them one out away. However, a foul tip off his wrist caused Kirk to depart (hopefully, that’s not the decisive break of the game). Derek Hill immediately challenged replacement Tyler Heineman by dropping down a bunt. Heineman not only didn’t get the out, allowing the tying run to cross, but threw it up the line to put the winning run in scoring position. Setting up former Ray (of course) Tristan Peters to line the game winning single to right field.

Jays of the Day: The extra inning Manfred Man confounds the raw WPA, as both Ernie Clement (+0.19 WPA) and George Springer (+0.39) have big numbers that are largely undeserved. So instead we’ll go with Gimenez (+0.07) for the critical HR, Varland (+0.11) and Rogers (+0.14) for important shutout relief innings, with hat tips to Fisher (+0.06) and Little (+0.02).

Boo Jays: By the numbers, Hoffman with the brutal -.800, but that neither accounts for the nature of the runners in extras nor how things happened. Instead, we’ll stick with Okamoto (-0.18) for the 0/4 golden sombrero, Cease (-0.15), Sanchez (-0.15) with the 0/5 sombrero, and I think Heineman for the wild throw though coming in cold.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, the Jays will look to even the series when they’ll send, well, someone to the mound in Cody Ponce’s spot to face old friend Anthony Kay

The Texas Rangers scored three runs but the Cincinnati Reds scored five runs runs.

The Reds hit three home runs and the Rangers had a bunch of hard-hit balls that went for outs and after a tied game through eight innings, Chris Martin allowed two, two-strike extra base hits — including Cincy’s third dong of the game — and the Rangers are now 0-1 at The Shed in 2026.

Player of the Game: Other than a couple of poorly located pitches, a three-run outing with nine Ks and zero walks over six innings is something you’d happily take from your starter. No victory today for Mackenzie Gore, however, but he’s been a bright spot through two starts so far this season.

Up Next: The Rangers and Reds are right back at it tomorrow evening with RHP Kumar Rocker making his 2026 debut at last opposite RHP Rhett Lowder for Cincinnati.

Saturday’s first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 6:05 pm CDT and you can watch it on the Rangers Sports Network.

Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger had a highlight-reel catch in the ninth inning of Friday's home-opening win over the Miami Marlins.

With none out and a 1-1 count for left-hander Ryan Yarbrough, Xavier Edwards laced an 85 mph cutter over Bellinger's shoulder and to the warning track.

Leaping near the wall, Bellinger initially missed off the heel of his glove before swiping down and snagging the ball for the catch.

Cody Bellinger HOW?! pic.twitter.com/W7GXc80f5t

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 3, 2026

"Well, I definitely thought I had it from the jump," Bellinger said. "I should've caught it the first time. I don't even know. I think I squeezed the glove too early, and it just kind of dropped in front of me and I just got lucky. I definitely got lucky. I threw my glove out there."

Upon making the play, Bellinger spun and raised his arms with a smile while Yarbrough applauded from the mound.

"I genuinely thought I caught it the first time," Bellinger said. "I feel like I had a good beat on it the whole way, and I don't know -- I think I caught it off my wrist. I don't really know exactly what happened there. So, I'm just glad I came down with it then and there."

Bellinger's afternoon at Yankee Stadium included a 1-for-4 day offensively, hitting a ground-rule double to lead off the fifth inning before working an eighth-inning walk and subsequently scoring on Ben Rice's two-out double, polishing off the 8-2 final for New York (6-1) against Miami (5-2).

"We've been doing a great job," Bellinger said. "We're playing great baseball. We love each other in here. I think we have a pretty good idea, plan of who we are and what we want to do, and it's a tough competitor on the mound -- he's got really good stuff. So, ultimately, we did a really good job of controlling the zone, doing some damage there -- Ben Rice came through with a few big hits -- and, overall, just a really good game."

After last night’s offensive explosion which saw the Braves score nearly as many runs (17) as they had in their first six games combined (24), a left-handed starter on the mound for Arizona is forcing Atlanta to switch things up in the lineup.

With Eduardo Rodriguez (0-0, 0.00 ERA) taking the mound for the Diamondbacks, Ozzie Albies is up in the three-hole spot he’s consistently batted in against lefty starters this season. In a small sample size this season, the average splits have not been drastic for the switch-hitter (.300 vs. lefties, .294 vs. righties). But the slugging hits have been drastic, as he’s slugging .600 vs. lefties and .294 vs. righties with five hits, all of them singles.

Additionally, Eli White is back in the lineup hitting sixth and Jonah Heim will make his third appearance of the season behind the plate hitting ninth. It could have been an opportunity to give Baldwin an off night with Kyle Farmer 4-for-7 with a homer in his career vs. Rodriguez, but that would have denied Baldwin the opportunity to break the franchise record he tied last night when he scored a run for the seventh straight game to start a season.

Day 2 in Arizona!

📻: @680TheFan
📺: @AppleTV#BravesCountrypic.twitter.com/lRvFU7Ls1S

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 3, 2026

Matt Olson is the only other Brave with a career homer against Rodriguez. Ronald Acuña Jr. is 2-for-6 with a double and three strikeouts, while Albies and Mauricio Dubon, who is back in the lineup batting seventh, are each 2-for-4.

The top four of Arizona’s lineup will remain the same for Thursday’s game, although Corbin Carroll will now be in right after DHing Game 1 while Gabriel Moreno will DH Friday after catching the series opener. James McCann, who pitched the ninth of Thursday’s blowout loss, will catch and bat seventh on Friday.

The drastic (and unfortunate) change for Arizona is promising young outfielder Jordan Lawlar being pulled from the lineup after it was revealed that he sustained a fractured wrist on a hit-by-pitch after hitting his first career homer earlier in the game. He’s been replaced by Tim Tawa (.204 career hitter in 206 career at-bats), who will hit ninth in the D-Backs order.

No Arizona hitter has faced Braves starter Grant Holmes more than five times. Moreno (2-for-5) and Alek Thomas (2-for-4) are the only player with multiple hits against him.

Serpientes are back. pic.twitter.com/oaATVNhMGH

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) April 3, 2026