Category: MLB

Question is pretty much in the title. How dare they make JR Ritchie’s debut a mid-week day game? Oh, their hand was forced by the Nationals’ nigh-inexorable offense? Well, okay then.

It’s a bit of a double-whammy for me today. You probably don’t know this, but today is St. George’s Day, and I’m personally a big fan of the Catalan version. For the last few years, I’ve been sneaking out to grab books and roses for my wife and kids every April 23. It was easier in past years due to various circumstances, but today there’s a standard slate of work and Ritchie’s debut. Thank St. George for modern technology, where I can just have it on MLB.tv on my phone if I do manage to sneak out, I guess!

(The funny thing is, I’ve doing this for a few years now, and no one seems to remember that it’s every April 23. It’s always a surprise, and I have to explain it each time. Maybe it’s more whimsical that way?)

Anyway, are you celebrating Ritchie’s debut with being less productive? Or is it the grindstone and highlights for you given the awkward timing of today’s 1:05 pm ET start?

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The dominant Tarik Skubal takes the ball in the rubber match today against the Milwaukee Brewers, as the Detroit Tigers look to win the finale. 

Behind Skubal, my Brewers vs. Tigers predictions and MLB picks call for Detroit to walk away with a convincing victory. 

Who will win Brewers vs Tigers today: Tigers -1.5 (+100)

Following Wednesday’s 5-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, the Detroit Tigers are now 9-2 at home this season. They’ve covered the run line in eight of those games at Comerica Park. Tarik Skubal takes the hill today, and he’s always lights out. 

The lefty has a 2.08 ERA so far, and he’s allowed just two earned across his last two outings. Across 40 at-bats against this Milwaukee lineup, Skubal has held them to a .140 average, while striking out 16.

The Tigers have covered the run line in two of Skubal’s four starts this season. In his only home start, Detroit won 8-2. The hosts are also set to face Brandon Sproat, who has a 6.88 ERA. Although he’s calmed down over his last two appearances, Sproat gave up four earned runs in his last road start. 

COVERS INTEL: Tarik Skubal owns an impressive 2.09 FIP this season, and he's also struck out 33 batters in 30 1/3 innings.

Brewers vs Tigers Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (-145)

When Skubal is on the bump, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that he won’t be giving up many runs. This Tigers bullpen was also phenomenal on Wednesday after Casey Mize exited, allowing just one run across three innings.

Sprout has surrendered only two runs across his last two starts for Milwaukee. While he’s not as good on the road, the 25-year-old is starting to find some confidence. Detroit has never faced him, but I do expect them to score some runs, as they’re a much better team at home.

However, it won’t be a ton, and Skubal will limit the Brew Crew to crumbs offensively. The Under will cash as these bullpens hold it down late once again. 

Brewers vs Tigers odds

• Moneyline: Brewers +190 | Tigers -210
• Run line: Brewers +1.5 (-120) | Tigers -1.5 (+105)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 | Under 7.5

Brewers vs Tigers trend

The Tigers have covered the run line in eight of their last 12 home games for +7.1 units and a 53% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Brewers vs. Tigers.

How to watch Brewers vs Tigers and game info

Brewers vs Tigers latest injuries

Brewers vs Tigers weather

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Before Tuesday’s game against the Yankees, Sam Kennedy joined Tom Caron on the NESN pregame show and gave us the following answer when asked about the team’s lack of power:

“We gotta start hitting the ball out of the ballpark. I think a lot of guys are gonna start to heat up. I was actually talking to folks from the other side, and they said after this cold weather you’re gonna see a lot more home runs. They hit a lot of home runs last week when it was 80 degrees in New York City. So let’s get a little home cooking, a little warm weather, and hopefully we get going.”

Moments later, the game began with a first pitch temperature of 47 degrees, and in the top of the second inning, Giancarlo Stanton did this:

It’s a good thing it wasn’t 80 degrees, right Sam? Otherwise that ball might have gone 500 feet. Really dodged a bullet on that one!

See, the problem isn’t just that the Red Sox don’t hit the ball out of the park when it’s cold, it’s that they don’t do anything well when it’s cold! If it’s so hard to hit for power when the mercury is low, why is Garrett Crochet giving up bombs to the Tigers? Or going back to the previous homestand, why was the defense throwing the ball all over the place against the Padres in the cold? This isn’t a reflection on the bad weather. It’s a reflection of how the Red Sox play in bad weather.

Here’s the reality: Is it harder to hit home runs in cold weather? Yes. But it’s also harder to pitch, field, grip the ball, maintain focus and get warmed up. The only way it becomes easier to do these things is if your opponent is soft and bothered by these conditions. And guess what? The Red Sox are that opponent.

Over the last three seasons, Boston is now 7-17 in the 24 games they’ve played with a first pitch temperature at 50 degrees or below (with one exception, which we’ll get to in a moment). That’s an abysmal .292 wining percentage, and would extrapolate out to a 47-115 record over a 162 game season.

But the play in cooler conditions isn’t just bad overall, it’s specifically getting worse by the year. So far in 2026, the Sox are sporting a vile 2-8 record in these circumstances. Here’s how it breaks down in detail over the last three seasons:

(Eagle eyed readers might notice I’m actually missing a game from the 2026 sample, and that’s the exception I mentioned above. Technically, the Marathon Monday match up belongs on this list with a first pitch temperature of 47 degrees, but I removed it because with the 11am start time, temperatures were actually rising through the 50s as the game progressed. In other words, it’s not comparable to your 1:30pm afternoon starts where the first pitch temperature will be close to the high for the day; and it’s the exact opposite of your evening April starts where it will keep getting colder as the game goes on. So for the spirit of this exercise, I dropped it from the analysis.)

There are two schools of thought you can take from the tables above: One is it doesn’t really matter as once you get beyond April, you just don’t see many more of these games. (Even October averages a full six degrees warmer than April in Boston.)

The other perspective? The cold weather data provides an early window into the team’s “give a damn” meter. In a sport where everything has to be at least partially tailored to surviving the grueling season, it would be so, so easy for any player to get in these conditions, conclude “yeah, this sucks!” and let go of the rope mentally for the evening knowing they’ve got 150 more games to iron things out.

This is where I’d like to bring everybody’s attention to the April 7th through April 10th games in the 2025 table above. That was a four game series at frigid Fenway against Toronto. And despite coming in as a dome team, the Blue Jays nearly swept the Sox. This is even more impressive when you consider that the Red Sox were really solid at Fenway in 2025, going an imposing 48-33. But it was Toronto who proved better at dealing with adversity from Mother Nature in Boston — and this is of course noteworthy because the Blue Jays ended up going all the way to Game 7 of the World Series. Perhaps that series in Fenway was just a little glimpse into their DNA, and a harbinger of what was to come.

Meanwhile, here was Alex Cora’s quote from the middle of that series explaining why his pitchers didn’t throw well in the first two games.

“I went out to the mound twice and I felt it. It was windy too. In the dugout it was OK, but then you go out there and it’s tough,”

Need more evidence about the barometer that is Fenway Park in April and its relationship to the season as a whole? Let’s look at the Red Sox record through 30 games in their four most recent World Series championship seasons:

2004: 19-11

2007: 20-10

2013: 20-10

2018: 22-8

I won’t overwhelm you with more tables about specific games, but the pattern here is overwhelmingly clear. When the Red Sox win the World Series, they come storming out of the gate despite dealing with the Fenway’s early chill. All four of these teams posted a higher winning percentage in their first 30 games than they did over the 162 game season, and I think that’s at least in part due to the fact that they were just more ready to go than their opponents. So when that hideous east wind kicked up off the Gulf of Maine and made conditions miserable at Fenway, they were more adept to deal with it, and it turned into an advantage.

(Funny how that happened in the era where the team appeared more championship driven and less profit driven, private equity driven, and return on investment driven. It’s almost as if the culture trickles from the top down.)

Lastly, I think it’s worth discussing what makes Fenway’s early season cold unique and why it may provide a better litmus test of which teams have the most moxie compared to pretty much any other location. Sure, it’s a northern city, which is probably the first direction that comes to mind when thinking about cold air, but what really separates Fenway in this conversation from all the other ballparks is that it’s so far to the east. This means it both sticks out into the ocean, and is on the front lines when the wind has any inkling of blowing off it. Just take a look at the temperatures yesterday when the wind was out of the south and notice how New England is the only area in the northeast and Great Lakes that didn’t benefit from that.

But the connections between Fenway, April, and cold ocean water run much deeper than you might ever imagine. The park opened in April of 1912, the same week the Titanic sank in icebergf waters — But perhaps even more amazing; the Titanic wreck site is on a latitude line located slightly SOUTH of Boston (41°43 N compared to Fenway’s 42°34 N).

As it turns out, that same Labrador Current that comes down from the Arctic and sends icebergs along the east side of Canada’s waters ends up turning west before flowing in the Gulf of Maine, where it waits for the chance to blow into Fenway Park before things warm up later in spring.

Even to this day, you can look at a sea surface temperature map and see how this plays out:

The is all a long way of saying that the uniqueness of this phenomenon should be an advantage for the Red Sox! Sam Kennedy spoke about how it was already 80 degrees in New York for the Yankees a few times this season, and that’s just not going to happen very often for the Red Sox in April. Instead, this period should be used each year as an opportunity for the guys to get close, learn to play for each other, and tough it out for the betterment of the group. It’s not going to be pleasant, but that’s the point. If done successfully, it means you have a little something extra inside the walls of the clubhouse for when those warmer and brighter days inevitably do show up and you’re tested in other ways.

Unfortunately, the 2026 Red Sox completely failed this assignment. Now, they’re going to have to buck a 9-15 start, and the weight of history working against them. Unless they’re made of much sterner stuff than they appear, that’s going to be a much more difficult task to play through than the cold air they just endured.

After falling into a rut in the middle of April, the Yankees starting rotation has righted the ship in its last turn. Since the start of the series against the Royals, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, Ryan Weathers, Luis Gil, and Max Fried all authored some of the best starts of their Yankees careers. After Fried’s gem against the Red Sox on Wednesday, their starting staff stood atop the MLB heap in both ERA and fWAR. However, it’s Gil’s start the evening before that we’re going to focus on for this week’s installation in Sequence of the Week.

Gil entered the series opener on Tuesday coming off a pair of mediocre performances against the Rays and Angels. He had given up seven runs in nine innings (7.00 ERA) including an unsightly four home runs. With the returns of Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón from their elbow surgery rehabs looming on the horizon, you felt that Gil’s days in the rotation, and indeed on the major league roster, were numbered.

We join Gil with two outs in the second, the Yankees out to an early 1-0 lead courtesy of a Giancarlo Stanton moonshot over the Green Monster. Marcelo Mayer stands on second following a two out double, so Gil has to lock in here to prevent the Red Sox from immediately answering.

Gil had been spraying his four-seamer wildly through the first seven batters he faced. This fact combined with the need for a damage-mitigating pitch is likely behind Austin Wells’ decision to call for a first pitch sinker here.

Really good execution of the sinker here from Gil. It’s just an inch or two off the corner low and away — a call that could have gone either way but is given as ball one. He may have missed the zone with the previous pitch, but it was executed the way he wanted so there is no reason to get scared off the sinker.

This time the sinker lands squarely in the zone for a called strike one. Durbin must be hunting something inside, because he’s not even interested in offering at this heater that catches a lot of the plate. Perhaps Gil and Wells pick up on this, because they go right back to the well looking to execute a third straight sinker to the outer half.

Some excellent framing from Wells earns a generous strike two call. I’m surprised Durbin doesn’t challenge this pitch given the situation — you can see he isn’t impressed with the call but hesitates after Boston burned one of their ABS challenges earlier.

After three straight sinkers away, Gil has the situation perfectly set up for a changeup below the zone hunting the inning-ending strikeout.

What a great pitch for the strikeout! Gil perfectly executes this changeup over the plate but below the zone to induce the chase and whiff. This pitch looks like a strike for so long before diving downward at the last moment. It’s not just Gil’s command of the pitch to that spot that is impressive but his ability to tunnel it with the sinker he threw right before.

Out of the hand and for about half of it’s path toward home, the changeup looks a lot like the sinker that immediately preceded it for a called strike. In Durbin’s mind, he cannot take this pitch out of fear that he will get punched out on exactly the same pitch that put him in the two-strike hole.

Here’s the full sequence:

Though still not close to his AL Rookie of the Year form in 2024, Gil demonstrated several encouraging signs in this start. I support the increased sinker usage. Gil dropped his arm slot last season to compensate for the lat injury he suffered preseason — this robs his four-seamer of its riding life and is better suited for throwing a sinker (plus he generally exhibits better command of sinker vs. four-seamer). I also loved a handful of the changeups he threw in this game. As Joe Girardi mentioned on the broadcast, the changeup seems to be Gil’s go-to pitch to reset his mechanics, allowing him to find the right release point when he starts getting wild with the fastball and slider.

That being said, Gil’s name is likely the first on the chopping block once Rodón returns in the coming weeks. His floor is just so much lower than the other starters who are candidates to be displaced from the rotation. The main issues for Gil are command and a limited repertoire. His walk rate of 12.3-percent is almost double the next-worst starter in the rotation. His ERA is a run higher than anyone else and his 7.32 FIP more than double the next-worst mark. His primary competition — Will Warren and Ryan Weathers — both possess deeper arsenals with at least five pitches each that they trust. Gil on the other hand rarely has all three of his pitches in fastball, slider, and changeup working for him when he starts, reducing him to a two-pitch and even sometimes a one-pitch pitcher. The wayward command particularly of his secondaries is a major driver of his plummeting strikeout rate — at 13.8-percent it’s less than half that of Warren and Weathers. All of this combines to result in Gil being the starter who inspires the least confidence when he takes the mound, and the Yankees have just too many good pitchers to justify keeping him in the rotation long term.

Toledo Mud Hens 8, Omaha Storm Chasers 2 (box)

The Mud Hens bashed four home runs in support of Ty Madden and cruised to victory over the Storm Chasers on Wednesday.

Madden got himself into a jam with some walks in the top of the first, but escaped with just a run allowed. He went on to blank them through three more innings before turning it over to the bullpen.

The Mud Hens seized control in the bottom of the second against RHP Aaron Sanchez, who at 33 years old refuses to give up. Some may remember the excellent start to his major league career with the Blue Jays a decade ago. Corey Julks and Jace Jung, unlike Pepperridge Farms neither remember nor care, and they blasted back-to-back solo shots to lead off the inning.

In the third, Ben Malgeri cracked a solo shot to leadoff that inning. 3-1 Hens.

Tyler Mattison took over from Madden in the fifth. He was a little wild, and a Luke Ritter error contributed to a run scoring, but Mattison limited the damage. 3-2 Hens.

Finally in the fifth the Hens pulled away for keeps. Max Clark led off the inning by reaching on an error and Gage Workman ripped a single to right field. Julks stepped in and smoked a line drive to left for a two-run double that made it 5-2. That was the end of Sanchez’s outing.

Ethan Bosacker took over for Omaha and promptly walked Jung. A Tyler Gentry single loaded the bases and Tomas Nido walked to make it 8-2. Ritter lifted a sacrifice fly to score Jung for a 7-1 lead.

Malgeri would lead off the bottom of the eighth with his second solo shot of the day and his third homer of the season.

Scott Effross returned from rehab with a clean inning of relief. Ricky Vanasco, who I referred to as Ricky Nolasco like a maniac in an article yesterday, remained untouchable with a clean inning and a strikeout, maintaining his 0.00 ERA. Brenan Hanifee closed it out with no issues.

If it feels like Max Clark watch has been quiet, he looks fine and hasn’t been striking out. He just hasn’t been racking up the hits or doing much damage the past few games.

Julks: 3-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B, HR, K

Malgeri: 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR, 2 K

Jung: 1-4, 2 R, RBI, HR, BB, 2 K

Madden: 4.0 IP, ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start in Toledo on Thursday with the series tied at a game apiece.

Erie SeaWolves 8, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 1 (box)

Kenny Serwa threw his first good game of the season, and the offense took advantage of some wildness from the Ponies to win easily on Wednesday.

Serwa got himself into a bit of a jam in the bottom of the first, but the knuckleballer worked through it without surrendering a run. Then his teammates got to work in the top of the second.

Chris Meyers singled with one out, and Izaac Pacheco drew a walk. An Andrew Jenkins ground out advanced the runners but it didn’t matter as E.J. Exposito cranked a three-run shot, his third of the year, for an early lead. Singles from Brett Callahan, Justice Bigbie, and Meyers produced another run in the third. 4-0 SeaWolves.

Serwa leaked a run in the bottom of the fourth but he handled the fifth without issue and put together a really good outing overall.

A sacrifice fly from Callahan scored Seth Stephenson in the seventh, and in the eighth, a pair of walks to Bigbie and Meyers were cashed in by a Pacheco two-run double. A ground out got Pacheco to third where an Exposito fly out was deep enough to score him and make it 8-1.

Moises Rodriguez was strong in two scoreless innings of relief, while Tyler Owens struck out three across the eighth and ninth to wrap this one up.

Meyers: 3-3, 2 R, RBI, BB, CS

Exposito: 1-2, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR, BB, K

Pacheco: 1-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B, 2 BB, K

Serwa (W, 1-3): 5.0 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: First pitch is set at 6:07 p.m. ET on Thursday as the SeaWolves hold a 2-0 lead in the best of six series.

West Michigan Whitecaps 7, Lake County Captains 1 (box)

Junior Tilien’s three-run shot early on was plenty as Hayden Minton and the Whitecaps’ pitching staff had the Captains well under control on Wednesday.

Minton got into some trouble in the second, but a potential RBI double that instead went for a ground rule double from the lead runner at third, and Minton escaped the inning unscathed.

In the bottom half, Nolan McCarthy walked, and Juan Hernandez singled with two outs. Tilien stepped in and blasted a drive to left to make it a 3-0 game.

Minton dug himself a deep hole in the top of the third and was lucky to escape with only one run allowed. He eventually gave way to RHP Duque Hebbert in the fourth, and Hebbert had no trouble getting them through the fifth with the score 3-1.

In the bottom of the third, Ricardo Hurtado and Garrett Pennington singled, and McCarthy eventually singled in Hurtado, though Pennington was cut down trying to score. 4-1 Whitecaps.

In the fifth, Pennington doubled with one out and Cristian Santana drove a deep drive to right field that was briefly misplayed into an RBI triple. 5-1 Whitecaps.

Zack Lee handled the sixth and seventh in relief without any issues. In the bottom of the seventh, Hurtado and Santana walked. With two outs, Clayton Campbell doubled both runners in to make it 7-1.

Logan Berrier tossed the final two frames with no trouble to lock this one up.

Pennington: 2-4, R, 2B, 2 K

Santana: 1-3, R, RBI, 3B, BB, K

Tilien: 1-4, R, 3 RBI, HR, K

Minton: 3.1 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Thursday with the series knotted at a game apiece.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 6, Tampa Tarpons 0 (box)

Lefty Ben Jacobs was excellent yet again, and the Flying Tigers broke through for one big inning to win again on Wednesday, running their record to 12-5.

Jacobs looked really good despite recording only three strikeouts in five innings of work. The rookie attacked the zone relentlessly with a well commanded mix of fourseamers, sinkers, and sliders, recording nine whiffs on 35 swings. The fourseamer continues to display really nice riding action, and the Tarpons were only able to manage two hits, while Jacobs didn’t walk a batter.

The Flying Tigers had a few chances to score but didn’t manage to cash any of them in until the seventh inning. Anibal Salas led off that inning with a missile to center field for a triple. Jordan Yost took a called strike three, but Jesus Pinto walked and Thayron Liranzo, who did have two more hits in this one as the DH, was hit by a pitch. Jack Goodman singled in two runs, and then Beau Ankeney was hit by a pitch to reload the bases. Carson Rucker struck out, and the Tarpons brought in Brian Arias in reilef of Jordarlin Mendoza, looking to escape the inning.

They would not escape, as Javier Osorio singled in two runs, Sergio Tapia singled in Ankeney, and then Osorio and Tapia pulled off a double steal and the Tarpons catcher threw the ball away, scoring Osorio to make it 6-0. Salas followed by drawing a walk, but Yost struck out swinging to end the inning.

Donye Evans and Luke Hoskins cleaned up the final 3 1/3 innings with no real trouble to put this one away.

Osorio: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, SB

Liranzo: 2-3, R, BB, K

Salas: 1-1, R, 3B, BB

Pinto: 1-3, R, 2 BB, K, SB

Yost: 0-4, 2 K

Jacobs: 5.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Thursday.

If you missed it, the Royals announced they will have a new stadium, and it’ll be at Crown Center.

Phase one of the $3 billion project will cover 85 acres and include a new $1.9 billion ballpark and surrounding ballpark district. The city will contribute $600 million in funding, with previous reporting indicating that will largely come from tax-increment financing, which uses revenues from the project to pay back bonds. Additional money will come from the state of Missouri, using tax credits, with $2 billion in private financing.

The event featured renderings, although Sherman acknowledged they are “conceptual,” adding “There’s a lot of work to do.”

Our Lady of Sorrows, the historic Kansas City church, will be remain next to the new stadium.

The century-old Catholic church, Our Lady of Sorrows, is poised to get a new neighbor: the Kansas City Royals.

Sunday worshippers going to Mass could soon be joined by baseball fans going to their sacred space when the Royals stadium opens in Crown Center.

Bishop James Johnston of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph was in the audience as leaders of the Royals, Hallmark Cards, Kansas City and the state of Missouri announced plans Wednesday morning for a baseball stadium on the site of the current Hallmark headquarters in Crown Center. Construction is expected to start in 2027 on the $3 billion project.

Maikel Garcia left yesterday’s loss in the 6th inning with right elbow soreness.

Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia exited the Royals’ 8-6 loss to the Orioles on Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium in the sixth inning due to right elbow soreness. Garcia will undergo further evaluation in the next few days, although he was already looking forward to playing Friday after Thursday’s team off-day.

Garcia felt something during his second at-bat Wednesday when he popped up to second base but stayed in the game. By the sixth inning, though, it was Nick Loftin running out to third base rather than Garcia.

The Mets ended their 12-game losing streak, topping the Twins 3-2. Francisco Lindor left the game hurt though.

Oneil Cruz hit a laser beam homer off the top of the foul pole against the Rangers.

Shohei Ohtani lowered his ERA to 0.38, but his 53 game on base streak ended against San Francisco.

Mariners starter Logan Gilbert had one of the most improbable things happen to him yesterday

Angels starter José Soriano is off the greatest start in over 100 years, ERA wise.

The Braves are calling up JR Ritchie, their number 2 prospect to start today

The NFL Draft starts tonight.

Your song of the day is Get What You Give by New Radicals

After taking a brief respite from batting while pitching last week at home, two days after getting hit by a pitch in his right shoulder, Shohei Ohtani was back to double duty on Wednesday night against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.

He pitched six more scoreless innings to lead the National League with a 0.38 ERA in 24 innings, but was hitless in four at-bat to snap his on-base streak at 53 games, tied with Shawn Green for the longest in Los Angeles Dodgers history. Ohtani’s hitting stats through the first four weeks this season are down relative to his first two full seasons at the plate in Los Angeles, hitting .258/.382/.472 with a 131 wRC+, still well above average.

So far this season Ohtani has batted 111 times and faced 92 hitters while pitching. His 203 total plate appearances are his heaviest workload during a baseball month since 208 PA in July 2023 while with the Angels. His most total PA in a month was 268, in September 2022 (126 batting, 142 pitching).

Ohtani being a full-go as a pitcher from the start of this season, in addition to his batting, which has improved since joining the Dodgers relative to his Angels days, has Mike Petriello at MLB.com wondering what heights Ohtani might now achieve.

“There’s still one more thing we haven’t seen Ohtani do, and that’s to put it all together for a full season, to marry Peak Batting Ohtani and Peak Pitching Ohtani together, at the same time, for six months,” Petriello wrote.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell, whose contract with Chicago raised the bar for managers ahead of Dave Roberts signing his own extension with Los Angeles, criticized MLB’s two-way player rule on Monday. From ESPN:

“It’s a rule to help offense, I think, more than anything, if you ask me,” Counsell said. “And then there’s one team that’s allowed to carry basically one of both, and that he gets special consideration. Which is probably the most bizarre rule. … For one team.”

Two-way players — those with at least 20 major league innings and at least 20 starts as a position player or designated hitter (with at least three plate appearances in each game) in the current or either of the previous two seasons — do not count against the active roster limit of 13 pitchers. The rule was first agreed to by Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association in March 2019, before Ohtani’s second year with the Angels, for implementation beginning in 2020.

Ohtani has been the only player to qualify for two-way status thus far.

Roberts on Monday night in Denver was asked about Counsell’s comments and had, frankly, an appropriate response. From Max Ralph at MLB.com:

“The thing is it certainly benefits us because we have the player,” Roberts said. “But that’s something that, any team that had Ohtani would have that player. We’re more than willing for other teams to go out and find a player who can do both. He’s an exception because he’s an exceptional player. It is what it is.”

Dodgers host the Cubs this weekend at Dodger Stadium, beginning Friday night in Los Angeles.

Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz had arthroscopic surgery on Wednesday to remove loose bodies in his right elbow, and is expected to miss around three months. You might remember his three-year, $69-million contract signed in December, which included a conditional $6.5 million club option for 2029 “if he has a specified injury through the end of the 2028 season and he does not end the season or postseason healthy, or if he has a specified surgery.”

J.P. Hoornstra for Dodgers on SI reported that Wednesday’s surgery was not the kind of procedure that would trigger the option.

With yesterday’s loss the Guardians dropped another series. Like the previously lost series, there were certainly some disappointing moments against the Astros. The team has been interesting in this first month, to say the least. There are some flaws with every part of this team, yet they still sit atop the AL Central half a game ahead of the Minnesota Twins and two games above .500. The team has an off day today before heading up north to face the Toronto Blue Jays.

The farm made some moves yesterday:

Kolby Allard (AAA), Matt Jachec (AA) and Cannon Peebles (Low A) all were moved to the 7-day for their teams.

Around the League

The New York Mets finally got a win, beating the Minnesota Twins 3-2, to snap their 12-game skid.

Josh Naylor walked it off for the Mariners against the A’s.

The San Diego Padres signed Lucas Giolito to a one-year deal.

Good morning, baseball fans!

The San Francisco Giants are in the midst of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers this week, with the final game being played later today.

These posts are pre-written, so I don’t get to be as timely as I might like. But I wanted to touch on a moment from Tuesday night’s game that I missed at the time, but read more about afterwards in Alex Simon’s reporting for SF Gate.

During Tuesday’s game, Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee was thrown out at the plate, but appeared to get injured in an attempt to beat the throw with a slide.

The broadcast caught Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing appearing to say “F*** him” (Lee) as he left the field while Lee was dealing with his injury.

I get that it’s a rivalry game and things can get heated. And maybe there is context I’m missing that would cause such a reaction from Rushing. But that’s a cruddy thing to say in dismissal of someone who just got hurt. And it’s an even cruddier demonstration of sportsmanship, especially at the professional level.

One would think that a player for the reigning World Series Champions, who will likely be competitors for the throne once again this year, might represent themselves and their organization a little better than that. But one would clearly be wrong.

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants wrap up this series against the Dodgers this afternoon at 12:45 p.m. PT.

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (12-10)

Worcester 7, Syracuse 6 (BOX)

Starter Brandon Waddell had a slow start to the game, allowing three first inning runs. He would settle down in his next two frames, handing off a 3-0 deficit to the bullpen. The score stayed 3-0 until the fifth, when Ji Hwan Bae doubled home two to make it 3-2. Jackson Cluff hit a three run home run in the sixth to make it 5-3 Mets. Both clubs traded runs in the bottom of the seventh and the top of the eight, giving Syracuse a 6-4 lead heading into the eighth inning.

The eighth inning saw the bullpen start to fall apart, as they surrendered a run in the eighth. Eventually, they would blow the game completely, getting walked off in the bottom of the ninth.

• RF Nick Morabito: 0-2, R, 3 BB, K, 2 SB
• DH Ji Hwan Bae: 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI
• 3B Ronny Mauricio: 0-4, BB, K
• LF Ryan Clifford: 0-3, 2 BB, 2 K
• SS Vidal Bruján: 1-4, R, BB, K, E (4)
• CF Cristian Pache: 2-4, R, 2B, BB, SB (5)
• 2B Jackson Cluff: 2-4, 2 R, HR (3), 3 RBI, BB, K, SB (2)
• 1B Trace Willhoite: 1-3, R, 2B, BB, K
• C Onix Vega: 1-4
• LHP Brandon Waddell: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 WP
• RHP Jonathan Pintaro: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• REHAB ALERT: LHP A.J. Minter: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, H (1)
• RHP Ryan Lambert: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, H (4)
• RHP Alex Carrillo: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, L (1-1), H (1)
• RHP Daniel Duarte: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, BS (2)

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (6-10)

Erie 8, Binghamton 1 (BOX)

Will Watson, the 2024 seventh round pick who burst onto the scene with a 2.60 ERA across three levels last year, continued his slow start to the 2026 campaign. He surrendered a three run home run in the second, another run in the third, and it was academic from there for Erie.

The two bright spots on the day for the Rumble Ponies are Eli Serrano, who pushed his season OPS to .942 and drove in their only run with a double, and Jacob Reimer, who has struggled mightily this year, but went 4-4 on the day.

• CF A.J. Ewing: 0-4, K
• SS Marco Vargas: 0-4, 2 K
• 3B Jacob Reimer: 4-4, R, 2B
• C Chris Suero: 1-4, K
• LF Eli Serrano III: 1-3, 2B, RBI, BB, K
• RF Jose Ramos: 0-4, K
• DH Kevin Parada: 1-3, BB
• 1B Nick Lorusso: 0-4, 3 K
• 2B Wyatt Young: 0-3, 2 K
• RHP Will Watson: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, L (0-3)
• LHP Felipe De La Cruz: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP
• RHP Zach Peek: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 1 HBP
• RHP Saul Garcia: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (4-12)

Hudson Valley 4, Brooklyn 3 (BOX)

Brooklyn continued to struggle in 2026, dropping their 12 game over their first 16. They actually led this game 2-0 after one, with Corey Collins and Ronald Hernandez driving in the runs with a sacrifice fly and double respectively. Hudson Valley slowly but surely chipped away at the small lead, and eventually led the game themselves by a score of 3-2 after four. A John Bay single would tie it in the sixth, and that score would hold until the ninth inning, when Bryce Jenkins would surrender a walk off home run.

• 2B Mitch Voit: 0-3, R, BB, 2 SB (3, 4)
• SS Antonio Jimenez: 0-4, K
• DH Daiverson Gutierrez: 1-3, 2 R, 2 K
• 1B Corey Collins: 0-3, RBI, K
• C Ronald Hernandez: 1-4, 2B, RBI, K, E (3)
• CF John Bay: 1-4, RBI, K
• 3B Colin Houck: 1-3, BB, K
• RF Yohairo Cuevas: 1-3, BB, K
• LF Kevin Villavicencio: 0-3, K, E (2)
• RHP Noah Hall: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 1 HBP
• RHP Parker Carlson: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• RHP Cristofer Gomez: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• RHP Bryce Jenkins: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, L (0-1)

Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (9-8)

St. Lucie 5, Palm Beach 2 (BOX)

A win! The only win in the organization besides THE METS WHO SNAPPED THEIR 12 GAME LOSING STREAK(!!!).

St. Lucie actually trailed 2-0 after a two run home run in the second inning, but starter Frank Camarillo settled down from there to deliver five innings of two run ball. The Mets tied the game in the bottom of the fourth with RBI singles by JT Benson and Branny De Oleo. Julio Zayas gave tgem the lead with a double in the seventh, AJ Salgado added a run with a sacrifice fly, and Sam Biller added another insurance run with a double of his own. The St. Lucie pen was nearly perfect surrendering just two hits and a walk.

• SS Elian Peña: 1-3, R, 2 BB, K
• 2B Sam Robertson: 0-4, R, 2 K
• 1B Randy Guzman: 0-3, BB, 2 K
• DH Julio Zayas: 2-4, 2B, RBI, K
• RF AJ Salgado: 0-3, R, RBI, 2 K, SB (2)
• CF JT Benson: 1-4, R, RBI, SB (3)
• C Chase Meggers: 0-1, R, 3 BB, K
• LF Sam Biller: 1-2, 2B, RBI, BB, K, SB (5)
• 3B Branny De Oleo: 1-4, RBI, 2 K, E (2)
• RHP Frank Camarillo: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
• LHP Nate Lavender: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• RHP Elwis Mijares: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, W (2-0)
• RHP Tyler McLoughlin: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, WP (1), S (1)

Rookie: FCL Mets (0-0)

NO GAME (SCHEDULE)

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Jacob Reimer

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

Nick Lorusso

Hello, friends.

The Orioles have escaped Kansas City with a series win after pulling off a comeback to get an 8-6 victory in yesterday’s game, bringing themselves back within a game of .500. The Royals broke a long losing streak with their win on Tuesday but remain in the basement of the American League. You could maybe say that it would have been better if the O’s really embarrassed the worst team, which they didn’t do. Still, they won two of three, and they showed some resilience in doing it, so that’s something. Check out Paul Folkemer’s recap of the game for more of the lovely totals.

One thing I think that we can hope for coming out of that series is that the signs of life from Samuel Basallo and Coby Mayo at the plate continue. Mayo, in particular, had a pair of three-run homers over the course of the series. Struggling outfielders Dylan Beavers and Colton Cowser had two hits apiece in Wednesday’s game as well. The problems that the team has had so far will seem a lot easier to overcome if these guys are able to start hitting at least decently.

Less positive is the continuing struggle of this year’s edition of the veteran starting pitcher signing, Chris Bassitt. The team spotted him a five-run lead yesterday after scoring six runs in the top of the sixth inning and Bassitt still couldn’t get through the bottom of the inning without making things way more interesting. He gave up a home run to the first batter he saw after the big O’s offensive outburst. In all, Bassitt gave up five runs in 5.1 innings to raise his season ERA to 6.75 after five starts.

It’s not quite Charlie Morton territory. Morton had a 10.89 ERA after the same number of games, after which he got dumped from the rotation. With each of Cade Povich and Brandon Young starting off well for Triple-A Norfolk, I understand the impulse to do the same for Bassitt. I doubt that the Orioles will, at least not unless this drags out for a longer at this level of bad results. Maybe another five starts. At least we don’t have to worry about him for a few more days.

There’s a little Orioles injury news that will probably hang in limbo over the off day today. Jackson Holliday was sent back to Baltimore yesterday for an MRI on his hand after his latest rehab stint was shut down following an uncomfortable swing in Norfolk. There was no news about it after yesterday’s game and there probably won’t be in the off day either. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out if there are any updates to be had there – or with any of the other injured O’s who might be back any day now or might just keep on lingering.

The Orioles will next be in action on Friday night at home against the Red Sox starting at 7:05. As of this writing, there is not a scheduled starter for the Orioles. If they don’t use the off day to skip Dean Kremer’s turn, then it will be Kremer who would be on turn to make the start. The Red Sox will send out Brayan Bello, who’s struggled to begin the 2026 season. This does not necessarily mean anything where the enigmatic Orioles offense is concerned.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

Orioles place Helsley on family leave/bereavement list, recall Espada (Baltimore Baseball)
There was a roster move ahead of yesterday’s game, with the closer leaving for a few days for the family medical or bereavement leave list. The team did not announce the specific circumstances. If it is a medical situation, I wish the best for it turning out well. If it’s bereavement, condolences to the family.

Jeremiah Jackson is getting his hacks in (FanGraphs)
The folks at FanGraphs have taken notice of the strong start by an unlikely Oriole. Now that Jackson’s BABIP luck has reached a more stable place, what might he do the rest of the way?

How Tyler Wells’s new mental approach is helping with life in the bullpen (The Baltimore Banner)
Wells had a great outing yesterday, with 1.2 innings scoreless. That’s heading in the right direction.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 1994, future Hall of Famer Lee Smith picked up his ninth save of the season in the 16th game played by the Orioles. This was a new MLB record for fastest to nine saves. The Orioles beat the Mariners, 4-3, as Smith got his save. He did not allow a run over 12 April appearances that year.

In their 25th game one year ago, the Orioles lost to the Tigers, 4-3, in the first game of a doubleheader, to fall to 10-15 on the season. Jordan Westburg, Ryan O’Hearn, and Ramón Urías all had three hits in the losing effort for the O’s. For the time being, the 2026 edition of the team is doing two games better than those guys.

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2022 pitcher Louis Head, 2009 pitcher Sean Henn, and 1957 infielder Buddy Peterson.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: playwright William Shakespeare (1564), 15th president James Buchanan (1791), physicist Max Planck (1858), baseball Hall of Famer Warren Spahn (1921), actress Shirley Temple (1928), musician Roy Orbison (1936), wrestler/actor John Cena (1977), comedian/host John Oliver (1977), baseball Hall of Famer Andruw Jones (1977), and gold medal snowboarder Chloe Kim (2000).

On this day in history…

In 1014, the Irish, led by High King Brian Boru, repelled a Viking invasion in the Battle of Clontarf, though Brian Boru himself was killed in the battle.

In 1635, the Boston Latin School was founded. Still in operation continuously on through today, this school is recognized as the first public school in what is now the United States.

In 1985, Coca-Cola released New Coke, a change to its formula. Within three months, they brought back the previous Coca-Cola formula. New Coke survived as Coke II through 2002.

In 2005, the first YouTube video was posted. One of its co-founders released a video titled “Me at the zoo”.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on April 23. Have a safe Thursday.

The Phillies have been bad and unlucky to start the season. Now they can officially add “injured” to that list of grievances, as J.T. Realmuto was placed on the injured list with back spasms, joining the likes of Jhoan Duran, Jonathan Bowlan, and Zach Pop who were already on the IL. Get ready for a whole lot more Rafael Marchán and some Garrett Stubbs.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• More on the fallout of Realmuto’s injury from Matt Gelb, who was first to report that the catcher was heading to the IL. ($)
• The Phillies secured $85M in public funding to conduct renovations to their spring training ballpark and facility in Clearwater, Florida. ($)

MLB news:

• Lingering free agent Lucas Giolito has found a home, agreeing with the San Diego Padres on a one year-deal with a mutual option for 2027.
• Juan Soto returned from the injured list for the Mets last night as the team looks to its star player to help save them from their own putrid start to the season.
• Yankees players have apparently lobbied the team to allow them to wear alternate jerseys on the road for the first time in their history. ($)
• Mariners pitcher Logan gilbert inadvertently did something very weird yesterday when he accidentally caught a line drive with his shirt.

The Yankees have stormed Fenway and taken their first series meeting with the Red Sox, and now they stand on the precipice of opening the season series up with a sweep. Their pitching has kept the Sox shut down thus far, tossing a shutout in the first game and allowing a single run in the ninth inning of game two. While the two teams have been on different trajectories to start the year, this matchup has only furthered the gap with a chance to punt them further down into the cellar of the AL East.

Now the baton passes over to Cam Schlittler to get the job done, and while it’s nowhere near the same scenario as the last time he lined up against them there’s a familiar vibe to this start. Schlittler was the man most responsible for ending Boston’s season last year, pitching eight shutout innings in Game 3 of the AL Wild Card Series and striking out a dozen batters in the process. This time around the Sox aren’t dead in the water if they lose, but a poor April can doom a team in this division especially when you tip the season series heavily in the favor of a team that you know you’ll be chasing all year. They certainly can’t be thrilled that they’re facing the young phenom here in this moment, even if the thought of revenge is on most of their batters’ minds.

That outing was by far the highlight of Schlittler’s 2025 season, as he delivered a generational postseason performance for the Yankees’ staff. He was excellent in his regular season starts, earning his way into the circle of trust for an October outing in the first place despite debuting midway through the year, but no one could have expected him to go out and carve up Boston. Now the expectations have heightened considerably for him in his sophomore season, and he’s somehow managing to deliver. He’s the owner of a sparkling 1.95 ERA thus far, but his FIP is even more outstanding at 0.87 — that’s the kind of potential that the Yankees haven’t seen out of a pitching prospect in ages, and it’s coming closer to fruition with each successful start. Add onto that how down-trodden the Sox currently look offensively, and there’s a perfect storm building for the brooms to kick up a lot of dust as they get brought out.

Baseball rarely plays to expectations, though. The better a team plays, the more surprising the random pitfalls that they go through become. And even the best teams are going to drop dozens of games that make you scratch your head and wonder “how did they lose that?” So with the stage set for Schlittler to take it to his hometown team once more, will he live up to that hype? Can he manage to beat it even? Or will the Sox protect their pride and answer back, adding another page into this chapter of the rivalry?

Today on the site, we’ve got a full schedule leading up to the series finale. Peter starts us off by looking at Luis Gil’s recent stellar outing against the Sox for the Sequence of the Week, and then I’ll handle the Rivalry Roundup. Jeff wishes newly-minted Hall of Famer Andruw Jones a happy birthday and reminisces on his playing career, John muses on the modern bullpen building methods that the Yankees have deployed, Kento considers the recent wave of early extensions that teams have been handing out and how it tempers the ability to rely on free agent retooling, and Peter returns to examine the resurgence of the sinker in the Yankee organization.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox

Time: 6:10 p.m. EST

Video: YES Network, NESN+, FS1

Venue: Fenway Park, Boston, MA

Will Stein and Nick Mingione have been working in tandem to map out just how 4-star quarterback Matt Ponatoski can play baseball and football at Kentucky.

There is just one massive, unavoidable hurdle standing in the way of getting Ponatoski, who has already signed, to campus: the MLB Draft.

The generational profile of Matt Ponatoski

Ponatoski’s resume is the stuff of legend. He was named Mr. Football in Ohio for the 2024 season and was a finalist again in 2025. He also swept the Gatorade Player of the Year awards in both baseball and football for the 2025 season.

He signed early with Kentucky once Will Stein replaced Mark Stoops, locking him in as a possible QB of the future. But when you possess the kind of raw talent Ponatoski does, the lure of turning professional straight out of high school is incredibly strong.

Just how elite is his baseball profile? When he stepped onto the diamond for a recent Perfect Game showcase, scouts tested his arm strength across the infield. Ponatoski unleashed an absolute heater that was clocked at 101 MPH. For context, that is the type of arm strength usually reserved for elite MLB superstars like the Reds’ Elly De La Cruz, except Elly is 24 years old, and Matt is just 18.

The mindset and the money

Currently, MLB scouts are weighing the risk of Ponatoski’s football commitment against his undeniable baseball ceiling. In a recent ESPN mini-mock draft from April 17, Ponatoski was projected to go at No. 69 overall. Factoring in compensation and competitive balance additions, that projection places him as a borderline second-round pick.

For Ponatoski, the decision is a win-win scenario, but it requires serious deliberation.

“I’m going to be fully prepared to go to school and go be at Kentucky and enroll and go compete for a quarterback battle when I get there,” Ponatoski recently said regarding his thought process. “But at the same time, like going and putting my best foot forward to these MLB teams and showing them like I have what it takes for you to draft me.”

“It’s one A and one B,” he continued. “I’m going to go have a great career at Kentucky, or I’m going to go be a professional baseball player. It’s like you can’t draw it up much better.”

Financially, the playing field is surprisingly level. A second-round slot value in the MLB Draft usually guarantees a signing bonus between $1 million and $2 million. In the modern NIL landscape, a 4-star SEC quarterback of his caliber will command a very similar valuation if he decides to honor his commitment to Kentucky.

The timeline

Ultimately, the decision will come down to how MLB front offices evaluate him. If a team falls in love with his 101 MPH arm and he creeps into the first round, the guaranteed money will likely pull him to the minor leagues. If he remains a second or third-round evaluation, returning to Lexington makes all the sense in the world.

The stakes are high because of MLB Draft eligibility rules. If Ponatoski enrolls at a four-year university like Kentucky, he is locked into the college ranks and cannot enter the MLB Draft again until after his junior year or until he turns 21, whichever comes first.

He is currently not on campus and plans to join the football team in the fall if he chooses the collegiate route. The MLB Draft takes place from July 11-12 in Philadelphia. After being selected, Ponatoski will have to choose to either sign or go to college. He may also let teams know ahead of time that he is going to college, so no one drafts him. Either way, we will finally know if Kentucky’s dual-sport dream will become a reality soon.

The Detroit Tigers managed to bounce back in the second game of their weekday series against the Milwaukee Brewers, earning a 5-2 win behind a strong outing by Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson’s first home run of the 2026 campaign.

Kenley Jansen made things a bit too exciting in the final frame, giving the fans some José Valverde vibes, but alas, the Motor City Kitties tied things up, setting up Thursday’s rubber match at Comerica Park.

Looking to clinch the series win, Detroit has left-handed ace Tarik Skubal taking the mound. The twice-consecutive Cy Young Award winner last faced Milwaukee on April 14, 2025, throwing seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and no walks while striking out nine in a 9-1 win.

Opposite him is second-year hurler Brandon Sproat, a right-hander who has only thrown 37 2/3 MLB innings so far in his young career, putting up a 5.73 ERA, 1.71 WHIP and a 4.36 FIP over that stretch. Thursday night’s start will be his first-ever appearance against the Tigers.

Take a look below at how the two match up.

Detroit Tigers (13-12) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (13-10)

Time (ET): 1:10 p.m.
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site:Brew Crew Ball
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 26: LHP Tarik Skubal (3-2, 2.08 ERA) vs. RHP Brandon Sproat (0-1, 6.88 ERA)

SKUBAL

SPROAT