Category: MLB

The last vestiges of the Eduardo Nunez trade from 2017 exist in the form of reliever Gregory Santos, whom the Boston Red Sox signed as an amateur free agent allllll the way back in 2015. It wouldn’t be until 2021 that he’d make his major league debut with the San Francisco Giants and after 5.2 innings across 2021 & 2022, the Giants traded him away for pitcher Kade McClure, who did not pan out. Such is the mystery of Baseball. He’s now back with the Giants and will be on the major league roster for them tonight, taking the place of Blade Tidwell.

The 26-year old flamethrowing righty had a great 2023 season for the Chicago White Sox. He was a 1.5-fWAR reliever in 66.1 IP with a 52.5% groundball rate and a 3.39 ERA, but also a 2.65 FIP. He pitched just 14.1 innings over the past two seasons for Seattle, and were bumpy to say the least (5.02 ERA / 4.41 FIP). He’s allowed just 3 runs (all earned) in 11 innings (2.45 ERA) for Sacramento so far with just 6 strikeouts. So, it’s weak contact when things are going well. Sort of a “best case scenario” Joel Peguero, perhaps. He’s the Giants’ ideal form of reliever, stretching back for at least the past decade: high velocity sinker (in this case, 97+) and 2,500+ rpm slider.

That’ll be an interesting change from Blade Tidwell from a stuff perspective. He has a six-pitch mix and gets a bit more swing and miss. On the other hand, the Giants might still see him as a starter, and with Adrian Houser pitching closer to his career averages and Tyler Mahle likely to hit the IL at some point, having a quality starter ready to go will be a necessity here very soon. But he looked great as a reliever.

For now, the Giants will hope that Santos can regain some of that 2023 magic and slide right into that bailout in the 5th inning or start the 6th clean role to make the 7th and beyond a fun game of Keaton Winn/Ryan Walker/Caleb Kilian/Erik Miller.

To clear a spot for him on the 40-man roster, outfielder Jared Oliva was transferred to the 60-day IL while he recovers from hamate surgery. Welcome back to the Giants and the big leagues, Gregory!

Veteran outfielder Tommy Pham's tenure with the Mets is officially done.

Pham cleared waivers on Wednesday and the team outrighted him to Triple-A Syracuse, but he declined the assignment and elected free agency instead, according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo.

New York designated the 38-year-old for assignment earlier in the week on April 26 after a rough stretch at the plate.

The OF had gone 0-for-13 with a walk over nine games this season.

It was Pham's second stint with the Mets, having played 79 games with the team in 2023. He had a solid year with New York, slashing .268/.348/.472 with 10 home runs and 36 RBI before getting traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks at the deadline.

For his career, Pham has played for 10 teams across 13 seasons, owning a .256 average and .765 OPS with 149 home runs, 200 doubles, and 522 RBI.

The Cincinnati Reds needed to shuffle their bullpen on Wednesday prior to the second game of the series against the Colorado Rockies, as right-hander Graham Ashcraft was placed on the bereavement list. They opted to recall right-hander Luis Mey to fill the spot on the roster, as they announced on Twitter.

The #Reds placed on the bereavement list RHP Graham Ashcraft and recalled from Triple-A Louisville RHP Luis Mey.

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 29, 2026

Ashcraft has been brilliant so far in 2026, his second season as a full-time reliever. in 15 games, he’s pitched 15.0 IP and allowed just 3 runs (2 earned) for a tidy 1.20 ERA and 2.73 FIP. He’s rightfully earned a high-leverage role alongside Tony Santillan in front of closer Emilio Pagan, and simply replacing him with Mey won’t be a one for one.

Someone’s going to need to slide into a higher-leverage role for a minimum of three games (and a max of seven).

Mey’s 2026 work down at AAA Louisville has hardly been as good. He’s allowed 9 runs (6 earned) in 11.0 IP, though the walk issue he’s dealt with throughout his pro career has been much better so far (14/3 K/BB). He’s hardly been the most effective reliever for the Bats so far this year – veterans Andrew Chafin, Tejay Antone, and even Lyon Richardson have been much better – but Mey is the lone one of that group currently on the 40-man roster to make this move more seamless long-term.

It is notable, though, that Kyle Nicolas was not recalled. He was only optioned on April 25th but could have been brought back early given the nature of Ashcraft’s move to the bereavement list, though he did pitch an inning for the Bats last night. Mey, however, hasn’t pitched since the 25th when he also threw an inning.

Chicago Cubs (18-12) at San Diego Padres (19-10), April 29, 2026, 1:10 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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Series finale. pic.twitter.com/sEuGvpui3T

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 29, 2026

Last one before heading home.

Watch the game live on @WatchMarquee. pic.twitter.com/6EGy16WvOE

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 29, 2026

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The San Francisco Giants are facing the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday, in the second game of their three-game series. The hope is that the second game will go better than the first one did. We’ll have to wait to see if that’s the case, but one thing’s for certain: the game is coming a little earlier than expected.

With bad weather making its way through the east coast, the teams announced on Wednesday, about four hours before game time, that the contest would be moved up by 30 minutes. Instead of the originally-scheduled start at 3:40 p.m. PT (6:40 p.m. local time), first pitch will now come at 3:10 p.m. PT.

Rain is expected to fall in Philly in the evening, and the hope is that by starting the game earlier, the teams can avoid most of the poor weather. Mother nature often has other plans, though, so we’ll see how that goes.

For Giants fans on the road, the gate times at Citizens Bank Park aren’t changing, despite the new start time. Third base and left field gates will open at 1:40 p.m. PT, with all other gates opening at 2:10.

We’ll let you know if there are any more updates on the weather or the schedule.

So we have an afternoon game. Game three of Three with the Red Sox. Then the Jays fly off to Minnesota to play the Twins for four games.

George Springer is back, but not in the lineup. That seems strange to me. Why put him on the roster if he isn’t going to play?

Jays, it would be nice to win.

Go Jays Go.

The Dodgers look to sweep the Miami Marlins on Wednesday. Tyler Glasnow goes against Sandy Alcantara.

Today’s #Dodgers lineup vs. Marlins: pic.twitter.com/O2cRfHEQj2

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 29, 2026

WEDNESDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Marlins
• Stadium: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 12:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 (Spanish)

George Springer is back from the IL and Eloy Jiménez has been DFAed to make room.

Jiménez was hitting .290/.343/.290 in 35 PA with no extra base hits. I’ll admit to being surprised, I figured it would be Yohendrick Pinago heading back to Buffalo, but if Eloy isn’t hitting for power, he doesn’t have much value and with Springer back, there is no room at DH for Eloy.

Welcome back George. Let’s have some home runs, please.

Weirdly, Springer isn’t in the lineup today.

It’s past vs. the future this afternoon in Arlington, as the Yankees go for a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers in a Wednesday matinee on the backs of a highly-touted prospect making his MLB debut against a grizzled veteran who once donned the pinstripes as a youngster.

Elmer Rodríguez is getting an audition these next two weeks, as he figures to get two (maybe three?) starts as the Yankees’ fifth starter before Carlos Rodón returns from his rehab assignment. For a breakdown of what to expect, check out Andrés’ piece from this morning.

Acquired from the rival Red Sox for Carlos Narváez in December 2024, the Puerto Rico native is the No. 72-ranked prospect in all of baseball and No. 3 in the Yankees’ organization behind George Lombard Jr. and Carlos Lagrange. After a solid spring training and World Baseball Classic performance, Rodríguez was off to a dynamite start in Scranton, pitching to a 1.27 ERA in 21.1 innings with 20 strikeouts to just four walks. He doesn’t seem to have a path to staying in the bigs for much of this season, barring injury, but the Yankees clearly would rather try him out than keep throwing Luis Gil every fifth day.

Old frenemy Nathan Eovaldi gets the start for the Rangers and will be making his 22nd career start against his former team, the most of any opponent. Originally drafted by the Dodgers, he was dealt to the Marlins for Hanley Ramírez and then flipped to the Yanks in December 2014 alongside Garrett Jones and then-prospect Domingo Germán for Martín Prado and David Phelps. He spent two years in pinstripes and made 48 starts before undergoing Tommy John surgery and being released after the 2016 season.

From then on, he’s been an enemy. He split time with the Rays and Red Sox in 2018 and was a key part of Boston’s 2018 World Series victory. After gettomg a new contract from Boston, he had a down 2019, but rebounded to be one of the most effective and consistent pitchers in the game for the next three seasons and tortured the Yankees along the way, allowing two runs in 12.1 career postseason innings against New York. He’s spent the last few years in Texas, where he won a another ring in 2023 and has been similarly steady until this year, when he’s struggled to a 5.79 ERA through six starts, giving up an AL-high nine homers.

Eovaldi still has great command, gets a lot of groundballs, and plenty of chases and whiffs, but he’s getting tagged significantly more this year than ever before. His fastball has never been his money pitch, but it has a startlingly bad -7 run value this year, while his cutter and curveball have similarly regressed. His strength remains his filthy splitter, which he’ll use to keep a powerful lineup honest all night.

Trent Grisham’s injury scare last night wasn’t enough to keep him out of the lineup today, as he leads off. The usual next four follow, with Jasson Domínguez getting his first start in left field in 2026 so Judge can DH, batting sixth. J.C. Escarra gets the “day game after a night game” start, followed by Ryan McMahon and José Caballero.

Similar top of the order for the Rangers with Brandon Nimmo, Josh Jung, Corey Seager, and Joc Pederson. The top six is identical to last night, but Kyle Higashioka slides in at catcher and Ezequiel Duran bats ninth at second base, with Alejandro Osuna between them.

How to watch

Location: Globe Life Field — Arlington, TX

First pitch: 2:35 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, Rangers Sports Network

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY), 105.2 The Fan, KLFC 1270 (TEX)

Online stream: MLB.tv (out-of-market only)

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

Closing out the Road Trip. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/UAlXyXbGuj

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 29, 2026

Wrapping up the homestand. #AllForTXpic.twitter.com/JnBN9DBnvl

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) April 29, 2026

The job just got a lot harder for Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy.

Boston ace Garrett Crochet was placed on the 15-day IL on Wednesday with left shoulder inflammation.

It comes after Crochet had a disappointing start to the season with a 6.30 ERA after six starts, though those numbers are inflated by one disastrous start against the Twins in which he gave up 10 runs in 1 ⅔ innings.

The move, which was retroactive to April 26, only adds to the Red Sox’s worries with the team off to a 12-18 start that led to the firing of manager Alex Cora on Saturday.

Cora’s firing came after the Red Sox’s 17-1 win over the Orioles in which the 26-year-old Crochet threw six shutout innings.

Crochet told reporters in Toronto on Wednesday that he is “pretty confident” he’ll return when eligible to come off the IL in a couple of weeks, according to MassLive.com.

“Just some fatigue I was feeling in my last start,” Crochet, who emerged as a dominant No. 1 starter for Boston last season, said. “Was able to grind through it there at the end. It just makes more sense to get ahead of it now so I’m not playing catch-up the rest of the season.

“It’s tough. Talked to Bres (Craig Breslow) and Brandon (head athletic trainer Brandon Henry) yesterday about trying to push through and ultimately, what good is that doing for the team if I’m just kicking the can down the road?”

A source told MassLive that Crochet is “trending better on a daily basis” and confirmed the move was made out of caution.

Crochet blamed issues with his spring training buildup as the reason behind the discomfort.

“At the end of the day, I feel like it was something that was preventable,” he said. “During the buildup, I just lost strength and never really got it back.”

The Red Sox called up utility man Nate Eaton from Triple-A to take Crochet’s place on the roster. However, that may only be a temporary situation with Boston in need of another starting pitcher.

The Red Sox are expected to call up Jake Bennett to make his major league debut against the Astros on Friday night.

Sonny Gray, who was acquired in an offseason trade with the Cardinals, is also on the IL with hamstring tightness. Veteran starters Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval are dealing with long-term injuries with no return date in sight.

Tracy has won two of his three games since taking over for Cora.

Wednesday notes…

• 18-12 AGAIN: After 30 games, the Cubs are 18-12 for the third straight season and the fifth of the last eight. The last year they were better through 30 games was 2016, when they were 24-6, which tied 1907 for their best 30-game start since 1901. They have had a winning percentage higher than .600 through 30 games in 20 seasons, but only seven after 1934, including .633 (19-11) in 1995 and 2001. This is the ninth season they have been 18-12: 1927-28, 1938, 2008 and the five starting in 2019. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE: This is the 14th of the Cubs’ 86 series at San Diego in which they have lost the first game, then won the second. In seven of the previous, the Cubs won the third game, including in one four-game series. The wins in rubber games were in 1972, 1973, 1984, 1992, 2015 and 2021. They lost the third game in 1979, 1980, 1995, 2011, 2013 and 2024. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• RUN SCORING NOTES: Monday night, the Cubs lost for the first time at San Diego when scoring exactly seven runs. They had been 18-0. Last night, they won with eight runs. It was their 10th such win at San Diego. But they had lose three games: the first of its kind, 11-8, in 1970, and then the two before last night, both by 9-8, in 2019 and 2024. In all games at San Diego with at least eight runs, the Cubs are 21-4. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• BASE STEALING NOTES:The Cubs won last night despite the Padres stealing three bases. Since 2024, the Cubs are 6-29 when opponents have stolen three or more bases. Before last night, they had lost seven in a row and 10 of 11. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)

Cubs lineup:

Last one before heading home.

Watch the game live on @WatchMarquee. pic.twitter.com/6EGy16WvOE

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 29, 2026

Padres lineup:

Series finale. pic.twitter.com/sEuGvpui3T

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 29, 2026

Jameson Taillon, RHP vs. Matt Waldron, RHP

Jameson Taillon has had some good starts this year, and some where he’s allowed too many home runs and runs. On the other hand, even when he allowed a season-high six runs and three homers to the Pirates, he struck out 10. So he’s been a useful fifth starter type. Unfortunately, with injuries the Cubs need him to step it up better than that.

Jamo threw four shutout innings against the Padres in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series last October, and allowed two runs in 5.1 innings to the Padres April 14, 2025 in San Diego.

Keeping the ball in the yard will help this afternoon, Jamo.

Matt Waldron spent much of 2024 in the Padres rotation, then spent almost all of last year in the minor leagues, making just one MLB start.

This year, he has made two starts for the Padres and given up six runs in both of them. I’d think the Cubs would take that this afternoon. He has never faced the Cubs and only Alex Bregman (0-for-2) and Michael Conforto (1-for-5, a double) have ever faced him.

Waldron, as you see below, throws a knuckleball. He’s the only current MLB pitcher doing so. You can read more about that here.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Petco Park.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Padres site Gaslamp Ball. If you do go there to interact with Padres fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Congratulations are apparently in order for Dylan Lee and his family, as he’s been reinstated from the paternity list after missing Tuesday’s Braves win over the Tigers. Of course, there’s got to be a corresponding move and as it turns out, Didier Fuentes isn’t going straight down. Instead, Carlos Carrasco’s time with the Braves big league squad is over as he’s been designated for assignment by the Braves.

Carlos Carrasco was called up initially after Dylan Dodd ended up going to the IL with a back ailment. He tossed a grand total of one inning during his latest big-league stint with the Braves. It was a scoreless inning where Carrasco retired the Nationals in order to finish off Washington and push the Braves over the line for a series win. Outside of that, Carrasco hadn’t really figured into the plans and now he’s going to go into the DFA cycle like schyoo mentioned in the Feed post above.

I’d say that it’s very likely that Carrasco will pass through waivers and assuming he doesn’t elect free agency, he’ll be back with Gwinnett. It’s a much-lower stakes situation here than with Martín Pérez’s DFA journey but it’s still one where you hope that Carlos Carrasco (or any player, really) can land on their feet no matter what happens. Either way, don’t be shocked if Carrasco ends up back with Gwinnett once this process runs its course.