Category: MLB

Today’s Reflections

Today’s Reflections are a bit here and there, but it all comes together in the end.

A few years ago, I was on one of my mini-MiLB baseball trip/music festival combos through southern Mississippi and the Florida panhandle (Biloxi Shuckers — 3.5 (giant casino in the outfield annoying); Pensacola Blue Wahoos — 4.25 (while Biloxi is on the water, Pensacola is almost in the water — the first base line/RF has a curved walkway that almost draws you from the game (hard for anything to make me do that)) both docked 0.5 for Biloxi having NO shade, and Pensacola minimal — glad we went in early May).

I knew I was passing through Crystal Springs, MS and that that was where Robert Johnson was from (our featured bluesman today). Saw there was a museum, so I stopped. The large room made the displays look limited, but it just gave you plenty of room to look everything over (surprise, we were the only visitors). I asked if they had any souvenirs or T-shirts. The lady said that they had a bunch left over from a festival they tried having several years before, and the vendor brought one size of T-shirts: 5X. I went ahead and bought one as a donation.

As we were leaving, the lady asked we liked music-related locations. I kind of was skeptical, but said sure and she sent us an hour down the road, luckily in the direction we were going. It was at Gillsburg, MS — the Lynyrd Skynyrd Monument Site. To say it was of such amazing detail and quality and just flat-out beautiful isn’t enough. SO highly recommended if you are in the middle of nowhere Mississippi.

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• Brett Taylor (North Side Baseball): Kyle Hendricks is Joining an MLB Front Office, But Somehow It Isn’t the Cubs. “How on earth did this happen? How is this possible? Everyone knew old friend/pitching genius Kyle Hendricks was going to join an MLB front office after his playing days were over, and frankly, I’d just assumed that it would OBVIOUSLY be the Chicago Cubs. ….. As you would guess, Hendricks will reportedly be working in pitching development with the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers. Not the Cubs. The Tigers.”
• Brian Kelter (North Side Baseball): Was the Cubs’ Pitching Injury Crisis Inevitable? “The Cubs’ pitching depth has been annihilated by injuries. This isn’t luck. This is a risky plan gone awry.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Where things stand with Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman as Cubs near end of trip. “Cubs manager Craig Counsell explained that Bregman was out of the lineup with a sore toe. ….. Swanson then felt something while sliding to steal third base. Swanson had exited the game with a “left glute cramp.” It’s hard to give the Cubs the benefit of the doubt with injuries,“
• Gordon Edes (Chicago Sun-Times): Could Moises Ballesteros be Cubs’ first Rookie of the Year since Kris Bryant? “With a bat in his hands, he has been lethal. And what could prove to be a boon to the candidacy of the native of Los Toques, Venezuela is if he gains more opportunities to catch.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com): Hoerner, Bregman, PCA lead Cubs in victory over Padres. “There was Nico Hoerner, delivering in the clutch as his incredible opening month is approaching its finish line. Alex Bregman came off the bench – after what was supposed to be a day off – coming through with a pinch-hit. And then Pete Crow-Armstrong put the 8-3 victory in the bag with a three-run homer that ended a prolonged power outage”

• Randy Holt (North Side Baseball): “Does Moisés Ballesteros’s Profile Indicate Looming Regression, or Continued Brilliance? “With a 216 wRC+ in 69 plate appearances, Ballesteros trails only Yordan Alvarez for the major-league lead. ….. Perhaps most encouraging about the start from Ballesteros is that virtually everything he’s producing is coming on the strength of exactly what we thought his skill set was. ….. Given how seamlessly the profile has manifested in nearly a full-time role, is it possible that his skill set could help him stave off what seems like inevitable regression?
• Darragh McDonald (MLBTradeRumors.com): Cubs Outright Scott Kingery, Vince Velasquez. “The Cubs have sent infielder/outfielder Scott Kingery and right-hander Vince Velasquez outright to AAA Iowa.“
• Darragh McDonald (MLBTradeRumors.com): Cubs Claim Doug Nikhazy, Designate Ben Cowles For Assignment. “The Cubs have claimed left-hander Doug Nikhazy off waivers from the White Sox and optioned him to AAA Iowa. The Cubs designated IF Ben Cowles for assignment to open a 40-man spot.”
• Ben Heyen (Sporting News): Cubs looking smart after not paying Kyle Tucker $240 million for 4 years. “The Cubs may have known what was coming, or they may have gotten lucky. But so far, Tucker’s deal with the Dodgers hasn’t worked out. …… So far, Tucker has been a below league average hitter. His OPS+ is just 96, which means he’s been 4% worse than the league average bat.”

• Justin Bonhard (Sporting News): The Chicago Cubs are amongst the league’s best, and they have not reached their full potential yet. “The Cubs have gotten it done with their bats, as they have the third-best batting average in all of baseball at. 263 as a team. To go along with the contact, they have made the most of their hits with some power, as their 37 homers as a team are the sixth-most in MLB. When (PCA catches fire), the possibilities for this team are endless, and their true potential will be revealed.”

• Max Ralph (MLB.com): Suzuki offers hilarious BP impressions of Ballesteros, Swanson: “Suzuki (a righty) did an over-the-top impression of Ballesteros’ unique left-handed swing, featuring a sizable leg kick with his hands held high, for teammates during pregame batting practice. The slugger also took his shot at Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, who recognizably puts the bat on his shoulder and leans back a bit before digging into his stance. Swanson also tends to fall toward home plate after a swing and miss, which Suzuki displayed perfectly, before mocking Swanson’s wide-legged gait back toward the dugout. (VIDEO enclosed);

(BONUS!) Suzuki’s imitation of Ian Happ:

Seiya Suzuki’s impression of Ian Happ’s batting stance is spot on 😂 pic.twitter.com/lcinpSm9IN

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) February 27, 2024

• Matt Sullivan (Sporting News): Cubs have a huge Pete Crow-Armstrong hitting problem. “So far this season (prior to Tuesday), Crow-Armstrong is hitting .241 with one home run, which is thanks in large part to how he’s struggling to barrel up any baseballs this season. He had 59 barrels last year, but this season he’s barreled up just four baseballs. His offensive presence has been minimal at best this season, with his 82 OPS+ showing just how far below league-average he is offensively.”

• Jay Cohen (Chicago Tribune{$}): The mighty NL Central is the majors’ only division with 5 winning teams: ‘Really good division’. ““It’s a really good division,” Chicago Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman said. “Obviously good pitching, good offenses, and all the teams have gotten off to a good start. So we know that we’ve got our work cut out for us in this division.”

*means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments.

Food For Thought:

More than 100 years ago, a child was born in Mississippi – a dirt-poor, African-American who would grow up, learn to sing and play the blues, and eventually achieve worldwide renown. In the decades after his death, he has become known as the King of the Delta Blues Singers, his music expanding in influence to the point that rock stars of the greatest magnitude – the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, the Allman Brothers – all sing his praise and have recorded his songs.

That child was Robert Johnson, an itinerant blues singer and guitarist who lived from 1911 to 1938. He recorded 29 songs between 1936 and ‘37 for the American Record Corporation, which released eleven 78rpm records on their Vocalion label during Johnson¹s lifetime, and one after his death.

Like many bluesmen of his day, Johnson plied his craft on street corners and in juke joints, ever rambling and ever lonely – and writing songs that romanticized that existence. But Johnson accomplished this with such an unprecedented intensity, marrying his starkly expressive vocals with a guitar mastery, that his music has endured long after the heyday of country blues and his own short life.

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Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.

With yesterday’s victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, the Cleveland Guardians are back to a .500 record and back to the top of the AL Central. Gavin Williams pitched a phenomenal game yesterday in the 3-1 victory on 4 days of rest. The recap can be read here.

The Guardians are off today as the team travels out west to face off against the Oakland Athletics in a 3 game weekend series.

Nick and Quincy are exploring the questions we’ve all been asking; What’s wrong with Steven Kwan/Chase DeLauter.

Guardians beat reporter, Tim Stebbins, put out a piece looking at where the team is at in regards to the offense after a month of baseball.

Around the League:

The Braves walked it off against the Tigers. The Tigers are now 1 game under .500 and 0.5 games back in the AL Central.

MATT OLSON WALK-OFF HOMER! pic.twitter.com/U6i57D6BgR

— MLB (@MLB) April 30, 2026

The Marlins took a series from the Dodgers.

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The Detroit Tigers hope to avoid the series broom when they meet the Atlanta Braves this afternoon at Truist Park.

While their offense has been relatively quiet during this series, my Tigers vs. Braves predictions expect the visitors' bats to boom today. 

Read on for my MLB picks for Wednesday, April 30. 

Who will win Tigers vs Braves today: Tigers moneyline (+115)

The market is overvaluing Atlanta Braves starter Bryce Elder’s 1.95 ERA while ignoring a 3.77 xFIP that signals massive regression. 

Elder’s 16th-percentile velocity (91.8 mph) and 28th-percentile whiff rate are a death sentence against a Detroit Tigers "heart of the order" that is currently nuclear. 

Over the last week, Spencer Torkelson (323 wRC+) and Riley Greene (219 wRC+) have punished mistakes, and their elite plate discipline (10% BB rate) will force Elder into the zone. 

Getting plus-money on an overpriced pitcher primed for regression is the ultimate value play.

Tigers vs Braves Over/Under pick: Over 8.5 (+100)

While the bullpens remain relatively fresh after Wednesday’s efficient relief outings, this getaway-day total is still too low. 

Elder’s lucky .238 BABIP faces a Detroit offense featuring three hitters with wRC+ marks north of 190 this week. 

On the other side, Framber Valdez faces an Atlanta lineup that has historically punished him, highlighted by Ozzie Albies' career 1.300 OPS in the matchup. 

With 65% humidity and the wind blowing out at Truist Park and two starters who rely heavily on contact management, expect the "expected" power metrics to finally manifest in a high-scoring finale.

Tigers vs Braves odds

• Moneyline: Tigers +108 | Braves -113
• Run line: Tigers -1.5 (+144) | Braves +1.5 (-194)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (-100) | Under 8.5 (-117)

Tigers vs Braves trend

The Detroit Tigers have hit the 1st Five Innings (F5) Moneyline in 10 of their last 18 games (+4.40 Units / 17% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Tigers vs. Braves.

How to watch Tigers vs Braves and game info

Tigers vs Braves latest injuries

Tigers vs Braves weather

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

The Red Sox have been no stranger to slow starts in recent years, but 2026 takes the cake. As April comes to an end, the team has an abysmal 12-19 record, the manager’s been fired, hit pieces are starting to trickle out about the infighting, Garrett Crochet just landed on the IL, and the offense couldn’t hit water if they fell out of boat. The notion of “it’s early” has gone from a comforting restoration of confidence to a threat they’re going to ruin your entire summer.

So with the Red Sox thankfully out of games to play in April with today’s off day, the question becomes: is this the worst Red Sox April of all time? By pure win percentage, that honor goes to the 1932 team, which started 3-11 (baseball season started a bit later back then) on their way to 111 losses. But that team was supposed to be terrible. It was their 14th straight losing season after winning the World Series in 1918. The 2026 team was supposed to be good.

When I think of recent underachieving Red Sox squads, my mind immediately goes to 2011 and 2019. That 2011 team started off 0-6, but by the end of April they were starting to balance things out a bit and were up to 11-15. The 2019 team meanwhile, which doesn’t get nearly enough hate, was also four games under .500 at the end of April at 13-17. In other words, the 2026 Sox are almost twice as many games under .500 as those other two were. The 2012 Bobby Valentine Sox? They were 11-11 on April 30th. So yeah, this is miserable!

Talk about this and whatever else you’d like, and as always, be good to one another (even if the Red Sox aren’t good to you)!

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (14-13)

SYRACUSE, LEHIGH VALLEY

Game postponed due to rain; will be made up on April 30 as part of a single-admission doubleheader.

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (8—15)

Game 1: NEW HAMPSHIRE 8, BINGHAMTON 2 (BOX)

You’ll notice a theme in last night’s games: poor offense and poorer pitching. Will Watson got lit up for seven runs on four hits and four walks over three innings pitched, and only Nick Lorusso collected more than one hit in the first game.

• DH Eli Serrano III: 0-3, R, BB
• 3B Jacob Reimer: 0-2, R, 2 BB
• RF Jose Ramos: 1-4, 2 K
• C Kevin Parada: 0-2, BB, K
• 1B Nick Lorusso: 2-3, 2B, RBI
• LF TT Bowens: 0-2, RBI, K
• CF Matt Rudick: 0-2, BB
• SS Wyatt Young: 1-3, SB, E
• 2B Diego Mosquera: 1-2, BB, K
• P Will Watson: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
• P Felipe De La Cruz: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• P Jefry Yan: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Game 2: NEW HAMPSHIRE 5, BINGHAMTON 3 (BOX)

The second game was less painful offensively, with Jacob Reimer, Eli Serrano III, and Jose Ramos all having decent days at the plate. But Brian Metover (a top tier last name for a NY prospect) gave up three runs in just a third of an inning and the Rumble Ponies couldn’t recover.

• CF Eli Serrano III: 1-3, R, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 K
• DH Jacob Reimer: 2-4, R, 2B, K
• C Chris Suero: 0-4, 3 K
• LF Jose Ramos: 1-1, 2 RBI, 3 BB
• 1B JT Schwartz: 1-4, K, SB
• 3B Nick Lorusso: 0-3, BB, K
• 2B Matt Rudick: 0-1, 2 BB
• RF Wyatt Young: 1-3, R, K
• SS Diego Mosquera: 0-3, 2 K
• P Joander Suarez: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
• P Brian Metoyer: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 0 K
• P Saul Garcia: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (10-13)

FREDRICK 5, BROOKLYN 0 (BOX)

Hey, Mitch Voit got two hits and two stolen bases and the bullpen didn’t allow a run in four and a third innings pitched! That’s about as much optimism as can be mustered in this shutout loss to the Keys, as Joel Díaz was rocked for five runs.

• SS Antonio Jimenez: 1-4, 2B
• 2B Mitch Voit: 2-4, 2 SB
• LF Corey Collins: 1-2, BB
• PH-LF Kevin Villavicencio: 0-1
• C Ronald Hernandez: 0-1, 3 BB, K
• DH Daiverson Gutierrez: 0-4, K
• 3B Colin Houck: 1-4, 2B, K, E
• 1B Trace Willhoite: 0-4, 3 K
• CF Sam Biller: 0-4, 4 K
• RF Yohairo Cuevas: 0-2, BB
• P Joel Díaz: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
• P Hoss Brewer: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• P Joe Charles: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• P Hunter Hodges: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K

Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (10-12)

Game 1: TAMPA 7, ST. LUCIE 6 (BOX)

The most offense in the entire system was St. Lucie, who lost the closest game of the day by just a skinny run. Elwis Mijares took the walk-off loss in minor league doubleheader extras (aka the eighth inning). JT Benson hit a three-run homer, too.

• SS Elian Peña: 2-4, R, 2B, 2 K
• DH Edward Lantigua: 0-4, RBI, K
• 1B Randy Guzman: 1-4, 2 R
• C Julio Zayas: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, K, E
• RF AJ Salgado: 2-4, 2 SB
• LF JT Benson: 1-3, R, HR, 3 RBI
• CF Simon Juan: 0-4, 2 K
• 2B Sam Robertson: 0-3, K
• 3B Branny De Oleo: 1-2, R, 2B, E
• P Frank Camarillo: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
• P Christian Rodriguez: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• P Elwis Mijares: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Game 2: TAMPA 7, ST. LUCIE 4 (BOX)

Through the raindrops, the Mets lost yet another game, this time with Conner Ware being the culprit, allowing four runs in four innings pitched.

• DH Elian Peña: 1-3, R, 2B, RBI, BB
• CF Edward Lantigua: 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K
• LF Randy Guzman: 0-4
• 1B AJ Salgado: 1-3, K
• RF JT Benson: 0-2, BB, K, SB
• 2B Jamari Baylor: 1-3, R, K
• 3B Sam Robertson: 0-3, 2 K
• C Francisco Toledo: 1-3, R, HR, RBI, K
• SS Branny De Oleo: 0-2, R, BB
• P Conner Ware: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
• P Miguel Mejias: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
• P Zack Mack: 1.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Rookie: FCL Mets (0-0)

NO GAME (SCHEDULE)

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Mitch Voit

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

Will Watson

1922
White Sox pitcher Charlie Robertson fired a perfect game, beating the Tigers, 2-0, in Detroit. Robertson’s perfect game only took one hour and 55 minutes to complete. The 26-year-old rookie struck out six, in just the fourth start of his career. In the second inning, Earl Sheely drove in both Sox runs with a single.

As proof of Robertson’s mastery on this day, only eight of 14 balls in the air were popups in some form, an indication that Detroit wasn’t seeing the hurler well at all. The Tigers, for their part, accused Robertson of doctoring the ball with grease or oil; unsurprisingly, player-manager Ty Cobb was the most vocal in protest.

Robertson became the third pitcher of the 20th Century to throw a perfect game. It was the first perfect game in 14 seasons — and there wouldn’t be another regular season perfecto for more than 42 years (Jim Bunning, 1964). (Don Larsen threw a perfect game in the 1956 World Series.)

Robertson never had a winning record in eight seasons in Chicago, compiling a White Sox career of 49-80 and 4.44 ERA. However, he made quite a splash with the club, pitching 527 innings in his first two full seasons with the White Sox, compiling 7.6 WAR.

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1929
In the top of the seventh of an 8-4 win at Comiskey Park, the White Sox pulled off a triple play against Cleveland. With runners on second and third, Carl Lind grounded out to shortstop, with White Sox first baseman Bud Clancy turning throwing home nab both runners at home plate.

The victory would draw the South Siders to 6-6 on the season, but the 1929 White Sox would finish at 59-93, the worst club in franchise history to that point.

Interestingly another triple play occurred on this same day, just seven years later, in 1936, under completely different circumstances. Chicago was getting blown out, 16-4, at Fenway Park, when Oscar Melillo lined out to Luke Appling, catching runners at first and second too far off of the bags. The loss dropped the White Sox to 4-8, but the season itself was much sunnier than 1929, as the White Sox finished 81-70-2 — the best record put up by the club since 1920.

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1934
Buoyed with four runs in the first and fifth innings and NINE in the fourth, the White Sox walloped Cleveland, 20-10.

Every player in the Chicago lineup had at least two hits except for catcher Marv Shea and third baseman Jimmy Dykes (although Dykes’ mid-game replacement in the blowout, Joe Chamberlain, went 2-for-3!) as the South Siders assaulted Cleveland for 18 hits and 10 for extra bases. The middle of the White Sox order (Zeke Bonura, Al Simmons and Luke Appling) combined to go 7-for-15 with three doubles, two homers, nine runs scored and 10 RBIs.

None of the five Cleveland pitchers gave up fewer than two earned runs in the loss. For the White Sox, Sad Sam Jones earned the win by scattering six hits and three earned over six innings (and added two hits himself); Joe Heving mopped up for the final three innings, earning his second save of the year despite giving up seven earned runs!

The 20 runs remain tied for the fifth-most in White Sox history. Naturally, while Cleveland put another 12 up in the next day’s game on May 1, the White Sox mustered just one.

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1951
Minnie Miñoso was acquired by the White Sox as part of a three-team deal involving Kansas City and Cleveland. The seven-player deal resulted in Miñoso becoming the team’s first Black ballplayer (Sam Hairston and Bob Boyd were Black players who were both signed before Miñoso, but Miñoso was the first Black player to appear in a game for the White Sox). 

Miñoso used his blinding speed and power to become the American League Rookie of the Year for 1951 (from The Sporting News, but not the baseball writers) by hitting .324 with 10 home runs, 76 RBIs and 31 stolen bases. He’d be named to the All-Star team six times in his career representing the Sox. His No. 9 was retired by the club in 1983.

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1962
A day after his 28th birthday, White Sox shortstop Luis Aparicio was shown sliding into a base on the cover of Sports Illustrated. The headline read, “The Players With Magic. Luis Aparicio of the White Sox.” 

The future Hall-of-Famer would lead the American League in steals for nine consecutive years while playing remarkable defense.

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1968
Bill Melton was called up to the majors for the first time, arriving from the Triple-A Hawaii Islanders on May 3. The young slugger’s first stint in the majors was a bust, as he slashed .204/.259/.265 with 19 strikeouts in 17 games/49 at-bats.

Melton was shipped back to the minors on May 22 and split time in Hawaii and Syracuse (on loan to the New York Yankees!). The future home-run champ returned to the big leagues for good with his second 17-game stint during roster expansion in September, when he crushed the ball at a .317/.373/.500 clip, including the first two of his 160 career dingers.

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2022
Tim Anderson led off an eventual 4-0 win over the Angels with a home run. With the clout, the last eight leadoff home runs for the White Sox were by Anderson, dating back to Aug. 18, 2000. That became the longest such streak in team history.

Hello, friends.

It’s a two for the price of one kind of day for the Orioles today. When I was a younger person, these events were not to be missed. If your life leaves you free to get to Camden Yards today, I heartily recommend going. You can probably get a cheap ticket on the secondary market and you can hang out and watch five or six hours of Orioles baseball. Sure, they might suck. A certain horrendous blowout was the first game of a doubleheader. Anything might happen. That’s part of what makes it interesting.

Even on a day where they were rained out, the Orioles managed to introduce some chaos into the roster picture. On Wednesday night, the team announced that Trevor Rogers has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 26 – the day after his most recent start. Rogers’s injury was listed as “illness.” I will tell you as someone who’s been writing for this website a long time that “illness” doesn’t come along too often as an IL explanation, at least not that we’re several years beyond the peak pandemic time. Hopefully Rogers is back to good health soon.

As an immediate replacement for Rogers on the roster, the team has recalled reliever Cameron Foster. This sets up a likely second roster move to bring up a starting pitcher for tomorrow, the day that the Orioles would have had Rogers pitch otherwise. No one seems to fit for that on the roster right now. Cade Povich, who last pitched on Sunday, seems like a decent candidate there. He has been back down with Norfolk for long enough to be recalled without needing any “replace an injured player” finagling.

Today’s doubleheader probably means one more pitcher gets added to the roster for today only. A doubleheader day allows for a 27th man to be added to the roster. This can be a player who was recently optioned to the minors and otherwise within the 10 day limit. Jose Espada, you might be getting one more day of big league pay today.

A little farther down the road, one further side effect of today’s doubleheader is that the team will need a starting pitching solution for Sunday as well. With both Chris Bassitt and Brandon Young pitching today, neither one of them will be on regular rest when Monday rolls around. That’s a problem to be solved on Monday, assuming they can get through the weekend without anyone getting hurt. Perhaps recently DFA’d, released, and re-signed pitcher Albert Suárez will come back from his new minor league contract for a spot start. And then maybe even designated for assignment again.

The single admission doubleheader is set to get under way at 12:35 this afternoon, with the second game following roughly 30 minutes after the completion of the first game.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

The only thing consistent about the Orioles is their inconsistency. They’re not sure why. (The Baltimore Banner)
Going back to last year and continuing in a somewhat different way through the first part of this season, the Orioles just can’t put everything together for long stretches of good play even though it seems like a lot of the pieces should be there.

Orioles prove that sometimes baseball is a confidence game (Baltimore Baseball)
Peter Schmuck thinks the Orioles bounced back nicely from a disappointing weekend. But, added to the above, can they stay bounced back for another few games in a row?

For Pete Alonso, is the “want to” getting in the way? (Steve Melewski)
I’m really going to be glad when Alonso has raised his OPS by more than 100 points and we don’t have to get stories like this one any longer.

Pete Alonso, elite defender? This tiny glove explains why. (The Baltimore Sun)
It’s hardly the weirdest baseball practice technique I’ve ever heard. If it works for him, great.

Now dad of four sons (including newborn twins), Kittredge back to dealing out of Orioles pen (Orioles.com)
Kittredge had his injury rehab assignment interrupted for the paternity list. That combination doesn’t happen every day.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Through 29 games a year ago, the Orioles were 11-18. They lost the 29th game to the Yankees by a 15-3 score, falling to 11-18. Kyle Gibson was blasted for nine runs in 3.2 innings and they never had a chance. The Orioles won the next two games, though, so they’d have to sweep the doubleheader here today to remain the same distance ahead after 31 games.

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2021-22 pitcher Zac Lowther, 2019 catcher Jesús Sucre, and 1997-99 infielder Jeff Reboulet. Today is Reboulet’s 62nd birthday, so an extra happy birthday to him.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777), Challenger pilot Michael J. Smith (1945), actress Kirsten Dunst (1982), and actress Ana de Armas (1988).

On this day in history…

In 1492, Spain commissioned Christopher Columbus, naming him as admiral of the open sea, as well as viceroy and governor of any territory that he discovered on his exploration.

In 1789, George Washington took the oath of office to become the first president of the United States. As the capital was in New York City at the time, this oath was administered at Federal Hall on Wall Street.

In 1803, the United States completed the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France. Exactly nine years later, a part of that territory dubbed the Orleans Territory was admitted as a state called Louisiana, the 18th state of the union.

In 1975, the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon was captured by North Vietnamese forces. The Vietnam War came to an end with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnam.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland. Have a safe Thursday. Go O’s!

The Detroit Tigers fell under the .500 mark on Wednesday night after a 4-3 loss at the hands of the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park. It was the team’s second-straight defeat and fourth in the past five games.

After failing to capitalize on a Tarik Skubal start, the Motor City Kitties turn to left-hander Framber Valdez to prevent a road sweep that would end the interleague swing with a disappointing 3-6 mark. To be fair, the Braves are the best team in the big leagues right now, holding a two-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the overall standings heading into Thursday.

As for Valdez, the Tigers have won four of his six starts this season, though he has thrown just seven innings once. With the exception of one glaring outlier, he has done a great job keeping the opposition off the scoreboard, but unfortunately, that was not the case last time he faced Atlanta.

He previously pitched in Truist Park on behalf of the Houston Astros last year on Sept. 14 and gave up five runs on six hits (one home run) and four walks while striking out two over four frames for the loss.

Opposite Valdez is right-hander Bryce Elder, who is in his fifth major league season — all coming with the Braves — after being drafted in the fifth round of the 2020 MLB draft. He saw the Tigers in his penultimate appearance last season on Sept. 19, throwing seven innings of one-run ball on five hits (including a solo home run) and one walk while striking out seven in the win.

Hopefully, past performance does not predict future results. Here is how the two hurlers match up for Thursday’s early afternoon matchup starting at 12:15 p.m. ET.

Detroit Tigers (15-16) vs. Atlanta Braves (22-9)

Time (ET): 12:15 p.m.
Place: Truist Park, Atlanta, Georgia
SB Nation Site:Battery Power
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 32: LHP Framber Valdez (2-1, 3.41 ERA) vs. RHP Bryce Elder (3-1, 1.95 ERA)

Player	G	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	FIP	fWAR
Valdez	6	34.1	16.2	9.5	53.2	3.80	0.6
Elder	6	37.0	21.2	6.8	47.1	3.13	0.8

VALDEZ

ELDER

The Atlanta Braves appear to be back in that mode that we were used to seeing from a lot of these players during their run to the World Series in 2021 and their extremely successful regular seasons in 2022 and 2023. This is a squad that’s going to be incredibly competitive for all 27 outs of any given game and indeed, the Tigers and their struggling bullpen (Kenley Jansen in particular) got another example of it after the Braves won in walk-off fashion to pick up the series win on Wednesday night.

The walk-off blow came from Matt Olson, who has been swinging the bat as well as anybody in baseball at the moment. Going into Wednesday night’s action, Olson was tied with Bobby Witt Jr., Ben Rice and Nico Hoerner for fourth place in fWAR among all qualified players and tied for first in that same department among first basemen with Rice. Olson was also sitting in the top five in wRC+ among qualified hitters with 169 so far and that number is now at 175 after he clubbed the walk-off dinger that propelled the Braves to a come-from-behind victory.

It was also Olson’s first walk-off home run as a member of the Braves — which is kind of wild to think about considering that he’s been here since 2022. This was the first time he’d done it since July 24, 2020 which means that this was actually his first time doing it in front of fans since all the way back in 2019, which is when he went deep off of then-Milwaukee Brewers closer Josh Hader in order to send all the Oakland A’s fans home that night. This time, Olson got to do it in front of his hometown crowd for his hometown team.

Simply put, the Braves are playing with a ton of confidence right now and it’s showing based on the overwhelming positive results that they’ve been getting so far. I asked Olson in the post-game press conference where his confidence level was at at the moment and it’s clear that the level was very high at the moment.

“Obviously success is going to breed confidence — personally and as a team,” responded Olson. “It’s nicer when you’re playing winning baseball and you don’t feel like you have to be the guy every single night. That takes stuff off your plate and it actually helps everybody in the lineup. If we keep winning ballgames, hopefully we can keep snowballing this confidence until the end of the year.”

Olson was also asked by the media about how it feels to be winning all of these games in every type of fashion — but especially the dramatic fashion like this as well. Olson’s response seemed to indicate that the confidence is coming from multiple angles at this point and it really feels like they’re on a serious roll at the moment.

“Yeah it starts to feel like [we can find a way to win any game], the more wins you put together that way,” stated Olson. “I said the other day that we’ve had innings where we’ve put up five, six and seven-spots. It makes you feel like you’re in every ballgame when you feel like you can do that.”

Kenley Jansen suffered his third blown save of the season already and his second blown save in a row after the Reds walked him off back on April 24. While there may have been a bit of familiarity there for Olson since he and Jansen were teammates back in 2022, he did tell the media that it was still pretty tough to deal with the cutter.

“His cutter is his best pitch. I saw Ozzie swing over the top of a couple of them so I was wondering if it wasn’t getting that carry today,” noted Olson. “Especially when [Ozzie] was on first, I was trying to keep the double play out of order and set my sights a little higher than I typically would. He kind of just left it over the middle.”

He left it over the middle and Olson got just enough of it to send it into the bullpen and send Truist Park into a state of delirium. Manager Walt Weiss was asked about how he felt about the whole situation and whether or not this version of Olson is the best he’d ever seen him. While Weiss was hesitant to go that far, he still had a ton of praise for his star first baseman.

“I want to be careful about saying that this is as good as I’ve seen him because ‘23 was ridiculous but he’s swinging the bat really well,” stated Weiss. “He’s hitting balls into the left-center gap, he’s hitting homers, he’s just a really good hitter and man, that was a big at-bat there against Kenley Jansen. I felt like a few of the swings he had in that at-bat earlier, I felt like he was timed-up with Kenley there. He’s one of the greatest closers of our generation and he put together a heck of an at-bat.”

“He’s got long levers and it’s got some big moves in his swing. I’m sure it takes some maitenance to keep the timing element right but he doesn’t seem to have a problem with it. He’s one of the better players in the game, really, when you start looking at the whole package. What he does on defense…Matt Olson’s a superstar.”

At the moment, Matt Olson sure is playing like a superstar. On a Braves team that isn’t lacking for star power, Olson’s certainly been delivering the power as a star player for this team. While the Braves are getting contributions from all caliber of players, it’s been important for guys like Olson, Drake Baldwin and Ozzie Albies (who homered off of Tarik Skubal to initially put the Braves ahead on Wednesday night) to get the job done. It’s even better when you consider how Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley are still struggling to really find their footing at the moment.

As long as Matt Olson and the rest of the core (and the whole squad, really) can pick up the slack and pull their fair share of the weight then there’s every reason to believe that the winning can continue on for a good long while. Matt Olson’s first walk-off homer for the Braves was a special one and hopefully it won’t be the last one, either!

I hope you’re in the mood for some Phillies baseball, as there will be two games played today thanks to the rainout last night. It will be a split doubleheader, with game one beginning at 12:35 and game two beginning at 5:35. If you were one of the lucky ones with tickets for last night’s game, they will still be valid for the second game today.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• The Phillies have dug themselves a big hole, but it’s nothing new to interim manager Don Mattingly who’s dug out of similar holes back when he was manager of the Dodgers. ($)
• The team should be better than they currently are, but it’s hard to believe that Dave Dombrowski doesn’t have any regrets. ($)
• Massive news for fans of both the Iron Pigs and cryptids, as the team will rebrand for one night in June as the Lehigh Valley Squonk in honor of Pennsylvania’s saddest mythical creature.

MLB news:

• Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet is heading to the injured list with left shoulder inflammation.
• Speaking of Boston, here’s a deeper look inside Craig Breslow’s decision to clean house in the dugout. ($)
• The Tigers have been bit by the injury bug as well, as both Casey Mize and Javier Baez are headed to the IL after they were both injured in a game on Tuesday.
• Randal Grichuk, right-handed platoon outfielder, was designated for assignment by the Yankees to make room for top pitching prospect Elmer Rodriguez to make his major league debut.

Who is the funniest player on the Dodgers?

The clubhouse consensus: Kiké Hernández. Also getting votes: Miguel Rojas.

“You know what the funny thing is?” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Funny, ha. Go on.

“Dalton [Rushing] is one of the funnier guys,” Roberts said, “but not trying to be funny.”

Read more:Kyle Tucker's former Cubs teammates still stunned by his Dodgers contract

Youthful exuberance on a veteran team is not such a bad thing. Keeps everyone loose.

That leads to a related question: If you had to pick one player to host a comedy show, who would it be?

“Kiké would be the one I would choose,” Freddie Freeman said. “Will Smith is the complete opposite of who I would think, but it kind of fits perfectly.”

On May 7, Smith hosts his third annual Dodgers Comedy Night, part of the Netflix is a Joke comedy festival. It’s a fundraiser for the Catching Hope foundation, launched by Smith and his wife to equip at-risk youth with skills in leadership and self-sufficiency.

It’s also a night that forces Smith, the Dodgers’ stoic All-Star catcher, to take the stage, thank everyone for coming, and smile and laugh before the professional comedians take the stage.

“I was definitely a little anxious because you have to get up there and give a little speech, which I enjoy now,” he said. “It kind of took me back to my high school days, where you have to give a speech in front of the whole school.

“It was a little worrisome, but it was fine. It was fun once I got up there.”

Said Rojas: “The first time, it was just a welcome. Last year, he told a couple jokes.”

Smith insists he writes his own jokes.

“I’m not saying too many jokes,” he said. “Maybe one.”

The Smith we all see is the one Buster Posey — the soon-to-be Hall of Famer and now the San Francisco Giants’ president of baseball operations — described to me last year: “He wasn’t looking to be your best friend when you came to the plate. I kind of appreciated that about him. He was always very business.”

The Dodgers’ social media team nudged Smith out of that public shell a bit this spring, in a spot promoting his bobblehead night, in which Smith nailed a deadpan delivery and a range of facial gestures.

Roberts said he had noticed that in the two previous comedy shows Smith has hosted.

“Jon Lovitz is a comedian, and he has that dry humor, so there you go,” Roberts said. “Will has that dry humor.”

When I asked Smith which players might be the funniest on the team, he also went with Hernández and Rojas.

“I’m not one of the jokesters,” Smith said. “With my closest friends away from baseball, yeah, we joke around. I like to keep it light, and very sarcastic.

“The funny guys are the louder ones, usually Miggy and Kiké. Everyone is funny in their own way.”

Rojas said he sees Smith less in terms of the annual joke or two on stage and more in terms of the game night he and his wife recently hosted for teammates and their families.

“I’m a little more vocal,” Rojas said. “If he has to say something, he will say it, but in a different way.

“He is a great leader that cares. He’s not the outgoing guy, but he’s always aware of, ‘OK, this is what I want to do to connect with my guys.’”

Read more:Shohei Ohtani homers, Justin Wrobleski shines as Dodgers shut out Cubs for series win

Freeman has seen Smith on stage. The comedy show casting works, somehow.

“It’s not his personality,” Freeman said, “which I think makes it that much better.”

Freeman suspected I might be skeptical.

“It’s fun,” he said. “You should go.”

For more details on Dodgers Comedy Night, including ticket information, click here.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

It would have been extremely nice to finsh an 8-1 road trip with another sweep, but mean ol’ pal Nathan Eovaldi proved to be the force that stopped the Yankees in their tracks. The tenacious foe shut New York out through seven as Texas salvaged the final game of their series, outdueling the debuting Elmer Rodríguez.

The most concern from the affair, however, came from a fourth-inning plunking by Eovaldi on Jasson Domínguez. The pitch hit him on the elbow, and he was visibly in quite a bit of pain. After being examined, he stayed in to run the bases but was ultimately pulled before he could take the field on defense in the home half of the inning. An MRI in Texas was inconclusive, so Domínguez will get CT scans when the Yankees return to New York. Monitoring that situation will be the story of the Thursday offday.

So our question to you: What should the Yankees do if Domínguez needs to join the man he was effectively replacing in the lineup, Giancarlo Stanton, on the IL?

Unfortunate timing might have sapped the Yankees out of one of their options, as they had designated Randal Grichuk for assignment that very morning to make room for ERC on their roster; he and Domínguez had nearly-duplicative roles, so it made sense to cut ties even with Grichuk hitting at least a bit better than he began 2026. Perhaps they’re able to bring him back anyway despite the DFA, but if another team claims Grichuk, then they’re out of luck there.

There are other options at Triple-A Scranton, though. The most straightforward answer is bringing the versatile Oswaldo Cabrera back to the majors for the first time since his ugly injury ended his 2025 season quite abruptly. He’s already on the 40-man roster, he’s a known commodity, and the Yankees already have a full outfield of Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham, and Aaron Judge anyway. So if they’re really only replacing Stanton’s DH time, then they could have a rotation of sorts there with at-bats from Ben Rice, Amed Rosario, Judge himself, or whoever. If they want more of a pure outfielder backing up, then they could add someone like the speedy Duke Ellis to the 40-man pretty easily, too. Former big leaguers Yanquiel Fernández and Seth Brown are non-40-man outfield options as well.

And of course there’s Spencer Jones. The Yankees’ top draft pick from 2022 is off to a .242/.364/.538 start with seven homers in Scranton across 26 games and 110 plate appearances. The strikeouts remain quite present, with only a slight dip in Jones’ K-rate, from 36.6-percent at Triple-A in 2025 to 33.6-percent thus far. There are zone-contact questions as well that would likely be exposed by MLB pitching. That being said, the talent remains tantalizing, and Jones is on the 40-man roster. The Yankees could take a flyer on Jones at least for a week or so, just to get a big-league read on him. But maybe the playing time isn’t quite there; it’s a bit of a different story than Domínguez, who they at least knew could help in The Show by mashing right-handed pitching. Jones is unquestionably a wild card.

So what’s your move? I’m skill a Spencer skeptic, and I do wonder if the risk of him getting exposed in any sort of time at the big-league level might only lower his possible trade value. So maybe the boring option of a Grichuk recovery or an Oswaldo return is more probable. That being said, I will be excited to see Jones if he does make his big-league debut, even if it’s under Jasson’s unfortunate circumstances. (And yet: sigh.)

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The Yankees are off but the blog doesn’t rest. Today on the site, Peter will break down his Sequence of the Week, Matt will lead the Rivalry Roundup, and Jonathan will celebrate the 119th birthday of the one and only Walter “Jumbo” Brown. Later, Sam will run through the Yankees’ top plays of March and April, and Peter will take the occasion of the offday to run his monthly GM poll on Brian Cashman to get the pulse on his first month of the 2026 season. At the end of the day, Jonathan will look ahead to Anthony Volpe’s 2026 debut, breaking down the variety of expectations.

Today’s Matchup

Offday

The Pittsburgh Pirates have made several roster moves this week, particularly with their bullpen, which has been off to a not-so-perfect start. First, they DFA’d righty Ryan Harbin to make room for righty Chris Devenski. The Bucs had to make room for Devenski on the 26 and the 40-man, so it was Harbin who took the red ticket.

Harbin has been injured and wasn’t expected back until late May at the earliest, and that sadly meant bye-bye, and unfortunate reality of sports injuries for non-stars.

Cam Sanders was also brought up a few days ago, replacing Braxton Ashcraft who is out on family bereavement. Again, they exchanged a righty for a righty. But they also called up lefty Hunter Barco, while optioning righty Wilber Dotel this week.

They then sent down Barco when Devenski got called up. Barco allowed 5 runs in 4.2 innings versus the St. Louis Cardinals and now has an ERA of 7.71 in just five appearances. Devenski, who is a 10-year veteran, gave up two hits and a run in last night’s loss to the Cards. Not a good start for Devenski, as the Bucs look to tighten up a bullpen that currently has more blown saves than actual saves.

Don’t expect too much roster action at the top of the pen, where Dennis Santana, Gregory Soto, Isaac Mattson and Yohan Ramirez have gotten the bulk of the work, but the Bucs need some help in the long and middle relief category and on the edges of the bullpen, where we’re likely to see guys bouncing in and out as the Bucs look for a better combination to help solidify what has been, to this point, a team weakness on the season.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Jasson Domínguez took a pitch off his left elbow Wednesday afternoon and left the game shortly after. X-rays taken at the stadium were inconclusive so the Yankees are sending Jasson for a CT scan. For his part, he doesn’t sound too concerned, publicly at least. When asked, Domínguez commented, “As of right now, I don’t feel any concern.”

Aaron Boone meanwhile is hoping it’s just bruising but it’s too early to know much of anything, though it’s hard to not be a little worried about the vague results of the X-rays. Regardless, it’s safe to expect that The Martian will be out of the lineup for at least a couple days.

MLB.com | Jared Greenspan: Speaking of injury, ace Gerrit Cole is working his way back from Tommy John surgery. Wednesday, he made his third rehab start, pitching for Double-A Somerset. Cole went 5.2 innings on Wednesday, throwing 60 pitches. He has gone from 44 pitches to 52 to 60. At those increments, Cole could perhaps have four more rehab starts, building his pitch count into the low 90s. But that’s just speculation. The Yankees have long looked at a late-May/early-June debut for Cole and that seems to be where he is trending.

The Athletic | Rustin Dodd ($): As part of a series where they look at sports duos handle high pressure, The Athletic talked to former Yankees and current YES booth mates David Cone and Joe Girardi. The latter caught more of Coney’s starts than any other catcher, most famously Cone’s perfect game. And that’s what Dodd asks them about. How they handled the pressure that day. There’s a lot of fun stuff behind the paywall but two things in particular jumped out. First, the two were so synced that Cone did not shake off Giradi until the ninth inning and only did so once. Second, you get a real sense from Girardi that he really wanted Cone to get that perfect game to the finish line.

MLB.com | Jason Foster: Somehow, we’re already 20-percent of the way through the season. As the calendar is about to turn to May, MLB surveyed 39 people to get their thoughts on the Cy Young races in each league. In both leagues, they’ve gone chalk, with Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes favored to win their respective leagues. But the Yankees are very well represented. Cam Schlittler and Max Fried place third and fourth in the ballot, with Cam’s strikeout numbers and Fried’s innings total jumping out in the early going.

How Don Mattingly is beginning to put his stamp on Phillies originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Coming up with a ton of differences between former Phillies manager Rob Thomson and Don Mattingly might be a challenge.

They come from similar baseball roots. They combined for nearly a half-century in the Yankees’ organization. They crossed paths on Joe Torre’s staff in 2007. And like Torre, they are even-keeled guys, and neither is prone to theatrics.

But as Phillies interim manager, Mattingly has already hinted at a few tweaks. And if you looked on the field before Wednesday’s postponed game, you could see one of them.

Bunting.

It was another day the Phillies worked on bunting, and both of those sessions have come in the all-new Mattingly Era.

That does not mean the Phillies are suddenly going to bunt all over the place once the umpire says play ball. But it does show the type of fundamentals Mattingly, and the rest of the coaching staff, believes can help them climb out of a 10-19 start.

“Bunting really is going to be part of the process,” Mattingly said. “We’ve already done it — this is the second time this season. It’s making that a regular thing.”

That does not mean longer or harder pregame work every day.

“I don’t think we’re doing extreme amounts or anything,” Mattingly said. “If a guy’s beat up or tired, you don’t have to take ground balls. I’d rather have quality work than just work.”

Mattingly understands the value of routine. He is a former MVP, six-time All-Star, nine-time Gold Glove winner and Manager of the Year. He’s qualified for just about any role in a major league organization.

That background gives Mattingly a unique voice in the Phillies’ clubhouse. Thomson had plenty of perspective after 42 years in baseball, but Mattingly brings a different style.

“I feel like I’m authentic in what I do,” Mattingly said. “Nothing really changes who I am and what I believe in. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to get better and evolve with the game. But I’ve got to be myself and do it.”

That shows up in how he thinks about the lineup.

There are a number of Phillies position players who do not exactly carry the “everyday” tag, including Brandon Marsh. The 28-year-old has been a bright spot, batting .298 with a .788 OPS in the heart of the order. More recently, he has also found more success against left-handed pitching, which has long been a challenge for him.

That has made him harder to sit.

“Brandon is having great at-bats, and he’s having them against everybody,” Mattingly said. “So basically he pushes you to play me, right?”

Matchups matter to Mattingly, but so does rhythm — similar to Thomson.

“We still want to use our guys, but we can’t just have guys sitting here all the time and never play and expect them to be OK when they do play,” he said. “That being said, I want to try to put our best lineup out there that gives us the best chance to win.”

Now managing his third team and coaching in his fifth organization, Mattingly has worked in different environments and seen how clubs use information to build lineups. He is not dismissive of that. He also wants a lineup that can stress the opposing dugout.

“What you really want is your best nine,” Mattingly said. “You can kind of put them in any order and it changes the run value so slightly over the course of the year.”

The larger point is avoiding a lineup that makes bullpen decisions too easy for the opponent.

“If you put all — let’s say our lefties are our best guys and we put five in a row up there — we’re just begging you to bring lefties in that spot,” Mattingly said. “So you try to set the lineup up in a way that puts a little pressure on the other manager.”

Through his managerial experience, Mattingly has also had time to reflect on what he would handle differently. One lesson came from his time in Miami.

“I should have included my staff more, made those guys more inclusive,” Mattingly said. “I didn’t do that as much as I should have. That’s not a mistake I want to make again.”

Mattingly played in a much different era, but he made clear that he does not ignore the numbers.

“If I’m going to sit here and go, ‘Oh hey, I don’t believe in the numbers, all that analytics stuff,’ that’s just crazy thinking,” Mattingly said. “That tells you that you’re not growing and you’re not evolving.

“That doesn’t mean that I go away from things that I believe in also about playing solid baseball. I hope I’m a blend of understanding how to use the information.”

With Thomson gone and Mattingly, who joined the organization in January, moving over from the bench coach role, he is still learning parts of the Phillies’ staff. The group also went through some shuffling Tuesday, with Dusty Wathan moving from third-base coach into the dugout and Anthony Contreras taking over at third.

The early dialogue has given Mattingly comfort.

“For me, from the standpoint of Dusty, we’ve had really good baseball conversations through spring, in the season,” Mattingly said. “I watch how he works, how he prepares. He’s managed a lot in the minor leagues, so I know he’s been there.”

Communication will be central, especially with the bullpen. When the Phillies originally hired Mattingly, part of the idea was to aid in-game decisions. Now he is making them, and that starts before first pitch.

“You meet before the game, you kind of go through your pockets,” he said. “You have some kind of semi-plan. You kind of know who you want to go to in certain pockets of their lineup.”

Mattingly also knows what it is like to be down and out. He pointed to the 2013 Dodgers, a club that was 9 1/2 games out in the NL West on June 22 and ended the season 11 games up in first place. That brought out a runner’s analogy he used to explain how he views any campaign.

“This is a long season,” Mattingly said. “It’s marathon-ish, from the standpoint of the length of it. But those marathoners aren’t running six-minute miles. They’re getting up to speed and they’re keeping their pace.”

The Phillies are not there yet. Mattingly is trying to keep them from chasing too much at once.

“I don’t want panic coming from the coaching staff or myself,” he said. “I want them to feel like we trust them. We know they’re going to get better.”

His approach remains narrow. Game by game.

“I think about winning every night,” Mattingly said. “Honestly, that’s my approach, because we can win every night. And there’s no reason we shouldn’t think in terms that we win every day.”

That does not mean he’s ignoring what has gone wrong this season. And Mattingly is not claiming one bunt drill, one lineup tweak or one staff meeting will solve everything. He is trying to push the Phillies back toward the version of themselves they still believe is in there.

“Hopefully, what’s visible is our baseball is better,” Mattingly said. “That’s really what we’re after.”