MLB News
I’m happy to have a series that’s not against the Rays.
And it is on Apple TV. Stupid MLB.
I’ve been to Comerica Park once, for one game. We’d gone to Lansing to watch the Lugnuts and the Tigers had a day game, while the Lugnuts were playing in the evening. So there was time to drive to Detroit watch the game and come back and watch the Lugnuts.
Lansing is a very nice town and they had a pretty walk along the river.
Go Jays Go.
Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell was scratched from his scheduled start Friday, May 15 against the Los Angeles Angels and will be placed on the injured list. Right-hander Will Klein was inserted to open a bullpen game in his place, the Dodgers announced.
The team said Snell was headed to the injured list "with left elbow loose bodies" and backdated his placement on the list to May 12.
Snell is just six days removed from his 2026 debut, a rocky three-inning outing against the Atlanta Braves in which he allowed four earned runs and six hits in a 7-2 loss.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner missed the start of the season because of what the team said was shoulder fatigue that carried over from a heavy postseason workload. He went 3-2 with a 3.18 ERA in five starts for the Dodgers in the 2025 MLB playoffs.
Snell has a long injury history. He first landed on the injured list in 2018 with shoulder fatigue and then broke his toe in a 2019 bathroom incident before undergoing arthroscopic elbow surgery that same year to remove loose bodies in his elbow. His left adductor became a chronic problem, accounting for five IL stints over four seasons. With the San Francisco Giants in 2024, he missed the first three months with a groin and adductor strain before dominating down the stretch.
He has thrown over 130 innings in a season just twice in his career.
He signed a five-year, $182 million deal with the Dodgers last winter, then missed four months in 2025 with shoulder inflammation just two starts into the season before returning to go 4-4 with a 2.41 ERA in nine regular season starts.
This story has been updated with new information.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Blake Snell scratched from Los Angeles Dodgers start vs Angels today
Clay Holmes – RHP
Cam Schittler – RHP
First pitch: 7:15pm EDT
TV: Apple TV
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
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It was a tough loss yesterday, but the Nats still got the series win in Cincinnati. Now the Nats head home and welcome a local rival for the first time this season. It is the first edition of the Battle of the Beltway for 2026. The Nats and O’s are two teams with similar records, but different vibes.
The Nats have made a few tweaks to the lineup. Curtis Mead will be in the lineup at first base, which puts Luis Garcia Jr. at DH. Jacob Young moves down to the 9 spot after spending a lot of time in the 5 hole. Jorbit Vivas will play second base over Nasim Nunez. Drew Millas will also do the catching for the second straight game. Zack Littell will get the start, but Andrew Alvarez should be available in a long relief role.
Despite going through some serious struggles this season, Gunnar Henderson remains in the leadoff spot. Last year Adley Rutschman was the struggling O’s star, but he has gotten back on track and is catching tonight. New signing Pete Alonso will be in the heart of the O’s lineup. We will also get our first look at the O’s young slugger Samuel Basallo. The O’s went all in on Shane Baz, trading a lot for him and extending him. He has struggled to start the season, but will look to get back on track tonight.
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Game Info:
Stadium: Nationals Park
Time: 6:45 PM EST
TV: Nationals.TV and Fox 5 WTTG
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
It is a busy night at the yard. The Nats are having a hot dog promotion and introducing their new team dog Natty. That should be a lot of fun, but winning would make it even better. The Nats played well against the O’s last year, and hopefully that can continue this year. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats.
After the offense sputtered in the series finale against the Phillies, don’t ask me how they stand to try against Spencer Strider and the MLB-best Atlanta Braves. We try in ATL tonight to kick off the weekend series!
⚾️ First Pitch: 7:15pm — Truist Park, Atlanta, GA
📺 TV: NESN
📻 Radio: WEEI
I am going to recommend that the Orioles start off their six-game road trip strongly. Tonight they start a weekend series with the Nationals, who are not exactly a powerhouse. Then they travel to Florida to play the Rays, who are very scary this year. So let’s bank some wins!
Shane Baz is starting for the Orioles, and we are all still waiting for his breakout moment. Maybe it’ll come tonight! That would be swell. He’ll be facing Zack Littell, who has been downright awful so far this season. In addition to his 6.94 ERA, Littell has given up a bunch of home runs (14 in 36.1 innings) and barely strikes anyone out. He also gives up his fair share of walks. I would really enjoy seeing the Orioles have a patient hitting approach tonight. Get on base and sock some dingers, boys.
If Baz can keep James Wood and CJ Abrams from doing much damage, maybe he can have a good game.
I thought the Orioles might make a roster move before today’s game to jettison catcher Maverick Handley in favor of an outfielder, but they did not. Samuel Basallo has been limited to DH’ing since his home plate collision on Mother’s Day. Maybe that knee is still bothering him too much to spend a game behind the plate.
By the way, the Nationals are introducing their team puppy to the world today. Natty is an eight-week-old Golden Retriever and Labrador Retriever mix and I am hoping he gets a lot of camera time. Team dogs for everyone!
Orioles lineup
Gunnar Henderson (L) SS
Taylor Ward (R) LF
Adley Rutschman (S) C
Pete Alonso (R) 1B
Samuel Basallo (L) DH
Tyler O’Neill (R) RF
Colton Cowser (L) CF
Coby Mayo (R) 3B
Jeremiah Jackson (R) 2B
Nationals lineup
James Wood (L) RF
Luis García Jr. (L) DH
Curtis Mead (R) 1B
CJ Abrams (L) SS
Daylen Lile (L) LF
Brady House (R) 3B
Jorbit Vivas (L) 2B
Drew Millas (S) C
Jacob Young (R) CF
Let’s go O’s!
Riding high off a five-game winning streak and a recent of the Kansas City Royals, the Chicago White Sox are better than .500 for the first time in a long time and currently hold a Wild Card spot in the American League. Although we’re only halfway through the month of May, the good vibes are flowing and the White Sox have a big opportunity to build on their recent success as the Chicago Cubs travel south.
On the hill for the White Sox is Sean Burke who had been solid for the majority of the season before doing his best Jaime Navarro impression last time out. Burke allowed six earned runs in just over four innings of work against the Seattle Mariners and will look to bounce back against a Cubs offense that is struggling to manufacture runs. The Cubs have lost four of their last five, averaging just one run per game.
Taking the ball for the Chicago Cubs is former Miami Marlins hurler Edward Cabrera. Although he sports a 3-1 record and a 3.88 ERA, Cabrera has given up three or more earned runs in each of his last six starts. In his last outing, he only completed five innings and surrendered two home runs and five earned runs. With a 6.55 ERA in two starts in May and the Good Guys rolling on offense, the hope is that the Cubs get smacked right back into their usual October hibernation a few months early.
Here is the starting lineup for the White Sox:
Here is the starting lineup for our annoying relations from the north:
First pitch is 6:40 pm CST. As a rare White Sox and Brewers fan, I’ll be on the edge of my seat and hopefully be back with a happy recap for you. You can watch on CHSN or listen on ESPN Chicago 1000. Let us know your thoughts and predictions below!
The Brewers starting pitcher will be Coleman Crow, no relation to Aloha director Cameron Crowe. I know bubkis about Crow, who will be making his second MLB start (his first was in April). BrewerFanatic (a pretty good indie site) has Crow ranked as the team’s 16th-highest prospect; MLB.com has him as 25th. Both agree than Crow has a wicked curveball with a really high spin rate; and that the kid’s a gamer, who “‘seems to find ways to get outs even when he doesn’t have his “A” stuff that night’” (from BF). So take that for what it’s worth.
Today we’ll go into The Baseball Project’s catalog, for the odd story of Larry Yount, the older brother of Brewers legend Robin Yount.
Larry was drafted in 1968 at age 18 by the Astros, and despite some control issues in the minors, had put up fairly decent numbers when he was called up to the bigs in September of 1971. (Per Kurt Blumenau of SABR, Larry was one of the Astros’ top five pitching prospects at the time.)
On September 15th, with the Astros trailing Atlanta 4-1 in the ninth, Larry was announced as the next relief pitcher. But he felt something bad in his elbow while he was performing his warmup tosses on the mound. He couldn’t go on, and it turned out he would never pitch in the bigs.
Multiple pitchers have gone down in the record books as appearing in one game without recording a single out; Yount is the only one to have an official appearance without facing an actual batter or throwing a single in-game pitch.
Larry would go on to pitch in the minors for three more seasons over 112 games; those control problems never improved, and his strikeouts decreased badly. He was out of organized baseball by the time he was 26. It happens.
The Baseball Project heard about Larry’s story when they were visiting the Hall of Fame. A curator started telling them about Larry Yount, and said “do you know what? This would make a great song.”
As band co-leader Steve Wynn tell it, “we hear that all the time.” That’s from this very good post about Larry Yount (and about the song) by mlb.com’s Brian McTaggart.
The more Wynn thought about it, the more he agreed it could be a good song. And it ended up on the band’s 3rd album (called, creatively, 3rd). The first time Larry Yount heard it, he cried.
But over time, he grew to find it amusing; so did the rest of the family. “There’s not many guys, I don’t think, that have not even an inning in the Major Leagues and have a song written about them,” Robin Yount said. “So he must have done something right in baseball.” Even though the song imagines a sibling jealousy that actually isn’t there — Larry made it quite rich in real estate, and Robin thanked him in his Hall of Fame induction speech.
Later on, Larry and his wife would have dinner with Steve Wynn; and he’s on their Christmas card list. So that story has a happy ending.
The Twins had their “Bark at the Park” night this Tuesday; the Saints will have their first of the season (they do several) next Saturday. Alas, the current Saints one is for dogs only. In the past, they’ve had ones where “anything wearing a collar and a leash” would get in for free (so, presumably, including cats).
I was always sorely tempted to head over to an Adult Store that sells DIFFERENT kinds of collars/leashes and see how far that “anything with a collar and a leash gets in free” policy goes… alas, looks like I’ve missed my chance.
Finally, speaking of Animal Friends, here’s what a Wisconsin man is willing to do for Science. From The Guardian:
For nearly 20 years, Tim Friede, 58, allowed some of the most lethal snakes in the world to bite him so he could build up an immunity that could one day be developed into a universal antivenom.
This extraordinary and painful quest, undertaken by a window cleaner with no formal scientific training in the basement of his Wisconsin home, nearly killed Friede, almost cost him his leg and his fingers and at one point put him into a coma.
“People said I was crazy, of course. Some people tried to stop me,” he told the Guardian. “I understood it was dangerous but people are dying from snakebites and I was pissed at that. I couldn’t get that out of my head. I put my ass on the line and I’m glad I did.”
Friede’s sacrifices are now poised to help deliver a new, broad antivenom that may avert some of the 138,000 deaths and 400,000 disfigurements and disabilities currently caused each year by snakebites worldwide, most of them poorer people in developing countries across Asia and Africa. In total, as many as 5.5 million people globally are bitten by snakes a year.
Read the whole story for more Fun Animal Encounters! Like: “Further brushes with severe injury and death occurred in the following years. Friede passed out with anaphylactic shock several times, one of his fingers turned black and was nearly amputated after being bitten by a rattlesnake before, most seriously, the venom of a monocled cobra caused muscles in his leg to start to disintegrate.”
Well, Gods bless the guy. At least it seems his heart is in the right place. He’s lucky it still is!
So if you see a Brewers fan at the game tonight with some strange marks on his hands/arms, just be grateful it wasn’t “bring ANY pet to the game night” at Target Field…
Join us and discuss game 1 against the Red Sox, as Spencer Strider takes the mound.
Game Time: Friday, May 15, 7:15 p.m. ET
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA.
Watch: BravesVision
Radio/Audio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan
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The New York Yankees placed Max Fried on the 15-day injured list Friday with what the team called a left elbow bone bruise. It will not be just a brief stint on the IL.
While Fried told reporters he was encouraged by the imaging and that he doesn’t expect to need surgery, he will be shut down from throwing for a few weeks. The Yankees also said Dr. Neal ElAttrache will review the MRI on Thursday.
Fried exited Wednesday's start against the Baltimore Orioles after three innings, having allowed three runs on five hits and a walk on 61 pitches. He described a hyperextension sensation in the elbow that had come and gone throughout the season before becoming impossible to pitch through.
The 32-year old left-hander has been excellent in 2026, posting a 3.21 ERA over 61 2/3 innings, the most in the majors this season. He signed an eight-year $218 million deal with New York in December 2024, the fourth largest contract ever given to a pure pitcher.
Fried has dealt with a series of injuries throughout his career, including Tommy John surgery in 2014 as a minor leaguer with the San Diego Padres. He’s had recurring finger blisters in his early years with Atlanta. He’s also dealt with a concussion, a hamstring strain and left forearm neuritis.
This is his first elbow injury since the Tommy John procedure more than a decade ago.
The Yankees are hoping to get Gerrit Cole back in their rotation within the next few weeks. The 2023 Cy Young Award winner missed all of the 2025 season after Tommy John surgery and has at least one more minor league rehab start to go before returning.
With both aces unavailable, the Yankees will be relying on Cam Schlittler, Carlos Rodon, Will Warren, Ryan Weathers and either Paul Blackburn, Ryan Yarbrough or Elmer Rodriguez to step in.
The Yankees went into play Friday with the best team ERA in the American League (3.22) and the second best in the majors behind the Atlanta Braves. Their starting rotation has a 3.14 ERA, second best in the AL behind the Tampa Bay Rays and this in the majors.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Yankees' Max Fried sidelined with elbow bone bruise
Texas Rangers lineup for May 15, 2026: starting pitchers are Jack Leiter for the Rangers and Spencer Arrighetti for the Astros.
The Rangers begin a 9 game road trip with a game in Houston. Corey Seager gets the day off.
The lineup:
Pederson — DH
Duran — SS
Nimmo — RF
Jung — 3B
Carter — CF
Burger — 1B
Osuna — LF
Higashioka — C
Foscue — 2B
7:10 p.m. Central start time. The game is a pick ‘em.
Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet
Pitching Matchup: Aaron Nola (2-3, 5.14 ERA) vs. Braxton Ashcraft (2-2, 2.77 ERA)
The Pittsburgh Pirates are at home hosting the Philadelphia Phillies today at beautiful PNC Park.
Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.
BD community, this is your thread for today’s game against the Phillies. Enjoy!
It was rough going from the first inning. The San Diego Padres had newcomer Griffin Canning on the mound, who had (mostly) impressed in his first two starts of the year. He did not impress this time around.
Canning issued four walks over just 1 2/3 innings of work, surrendering six runs to the Milwaukee Brewers. At the end of the first inning, the Padres had more hits (2) than the Brewers (1) but trailed 3-0. It was like that for most of the game, with the Friars failing to score until an RBI forceout in the ninth inning.
With San Diego now headed to Seattle to face the Mariners, they’ll need to get the offense going before they meet the division-rival Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday. If they can’t do that, it’s going to be a rough week for the Friar Faithful.
Hancock is off to a fantastic start to the season with the Mariners. He’s headlined a rotation full of elite pitchers who have made way for the breakout righty. Entering play on Friday, Hancock boasts a 3.21 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 47 2/3 innings.
The Friars faced Hancock in their last series against Seattle, and he managed to hold them to two runs over six innings. San Diego ended up winning that game with a five-run ninth-inning rally, but Hancock wasn’t the cause of that. The offense will need to come alive if they hope to scratch some runs against the right-hander.
Similarly, Vásquez has been a breakout pitcher in the San Diego rotation. The righty sports a 3.05 ERA in 44 1/3 innings. The WHIP is a little high at 1.17, but he’s managed to strand the baserunners he picks up most of the time.
Vásquez also faced Seattle in that last series, but it went much worse for him than it did for Hancock. It was the right-hander’s first poor start of 2026, allowing four runs in the same number of innings. The Padres still ended up winning, but they’ll need a better performance from Vásquez this time around if they hope to save their beleaguered bullpen.
Manager Craig Stammen has been making his lineups as offense focused as possible lately, having Fernando Tatis Jr. play second base quite often so Nick Castellanos and Miguel Andujar’s bats can remain in the lineup. That hasn’t worked, so it’s possible they try something different in this series.
I know, I know. Putting Machado in the fifth spot feels blasphemous. But he’s batting .190 on the year. He cannot keep hitting in the three and four spots as if that still makes sense. The same goes for Tatis, who has had an incredibly streaky start to the year mostly because of poor hitting mechanics.
Bogaerts and Merrill, on the other hand, have a career .429 and .400 batting average against Hancock. Sheets owns a 1.232 OPS. If they can show up tonight against Seattle, the San Diego starter might be able to pitch with a lead for the first time in a while.
With Canning unable to make it through two innings, Ron Marinaccio, Yuki Matsui and Matt Waldron covered the rest of the Padres’ loss on Thursday. The three pitched well, only giving up one run in that time frame.
Despite Stammen stating that Waldron will continue to pitch out of the ‘pen, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Waldron will be designated for assignment. Acee also reports that the Padres will call up reliever Alek Jacob to pitch out of the ‘pen until starter Lucas Giolito is added to the roster this weekend.
For tonight’s series opener, the high-leverage relievers are out in full force. Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada, Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon and Wandy Peralta are all available out of the ‘pen tonight. But, hopefully, Vásquez can pitch deep enough that Stammen won’t need to call on too many of those arms.
Friday notes…
Cubs lineup:
White Sox lineup:
Edward Cabrera was going along pretty well this year, then he got hit hard by the Rangers last Saturday. Of concern as well: After allowing no home runs in his first four starts covering 22.2 innings, he’s now served up seven homers in his last four starts, in 23.2 innings. This is not a trend you want to see continue.
Cabrera has also been better at Wrigley Field (3.60 ERA in five starts) than on the road (4.41 ERA in three starts). Small sample sizes here.
Last year, Cabrera held the Sox to one run in five innings at Rate Field, May 10. 2025. We’d take that tonight.
Sean Burke has made eight appearances for the Sox this year (six starts). The relief appearances were essentially “starts” following an opener. Coming off two good outings vs. the Nationals and Padres, Burke got lit up by the Mariners in his last start (six runs in 4.1 innings).
He made two starts against the Cubs last year and allowed eight runs (seven earned) in 9.1 innings. One thing he’s done better this year is cut down on his walk rate.
Here is the weather forecast for the area around Rate Field.
Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network. It’s also on Chicago Sports Network and WCIU-Ch. 26 with the Sox announcers.
Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation White Sox site South Side Sox. If you do go there to interact with Sox fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.
The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.
You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).
At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.
The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.
You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
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The Phillies – winners of their last five series – will head to Pittsburgh to start a three-game series with the Pirates on Friday night.
The Phillies’ starting pitcher for the opener will be Aaron Nola. Nola is off to a rough start to the season at 2-3 with a 5.14 ERA.
He’ll be opposed by righthander Braxton Ashcroft. In his second big league season, Ashcraft is 2-2 with a 2.77 ERA.
Game time is 6:40 PM and will be televised locally on NBCSP.