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The Los Angeles Angels are going to need more than Jo Adell robbing home runs if they want to upset the Atlanta Braves tonight.

Atlanta hands the ball to ace Chris Sale, which will be an issue for a Halos team that has been anything but heavenly when it comes to getting punched out.

My Braves vs. Angels predictions and MLB picks like Sale to lead road team to a win by multiple runs in this interleague matchup set for first pitch at 9:38 pm ET at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, on Monday, April 6.

Who will win Braves vs Angels today: Braves -1.5 (+100)

The Los Angeles Angels needed Jo Adell’s miracle glove to literally rob a 1-0 win from the Mariners on Saturday night. 

Unfortunately, they’ll need their bats to step up in order to have any hope against Chris Sale and the Atlanta Braves. 

Sale has looked great in his first two starts, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out nine over 12 innings.

He faces an Angels team that has the fourth-highest strikeout rate this season and had the highest in 2025 when facing left-handed pitching.

Sale will lead the Braves to a decisive win on Monday night.

COVERS INTEL: Current Angels hitters have combined for a career 32.4% strikeout rate when facing Sale.

Braves vs Angels Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (-105)

Outside of a 17-run outburst on April 2 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Braves' bats haven’t been as loud as you would expect and have plated four runs or fewer in four of their first seven games.

Tonight, they’ll face Angels’ ace, Jose Soriano. The right-hander has yet to allow a run on four hits over 12 innings pitched this season.

Meanwhile, the Angels rank 20th in OPS, 21st in wRC+, and it now sounds like they’ll be without Mike Trout for an extended period of time. That never helps an offense. Runs could be hard to come by tonight.

Braves vs Angels odds

• Moneyline: Atlanta -170 | Los Angeles +145
• Run line: Atlanta -1.5 (+100) | Los Angeles +1.5 (-120)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 | Under 7.5

Braves vs Angels trend

The Angels have hit the Team Total Under in 31 of their last 41 games dating back to last season for +20.90 Units and a 43% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Braves vs. Angels.

How to watch Braves vs Angels and game info

Braves vs Angels latest injuries

Braves vs Angels 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.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

The Los Angeles Angels are going to need more than Jo Adell robbing home runs if they want to upset the Atlanta Braves tonight.

Atlanta hands the ball to ace Chris Sale, which will be an issue for a Halos team that has been anything but heavenly when it comes to getting punched out.

My Braves vs. Angels predictions and MLB picks like Sale to lead road team to a win by multiple runs in this interleague matchup set for first pitch at 9:38 pm ET at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, on Monday, April 6.

Who will win Braves vs Angels today: Braves -1.5 (+100)

The Los Angeles Angels needed Jo Adell’s miracle glove to literally rob a 1-0 win from the Mariners on Saturday night. 

Unfortunately, they’ll need their bats to step up in order to have any hope against Chris Sale and the Atlanta Braves. 

Sale has looked great in his first two starts, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out nine over 12 innings.

He faces an Angels team that has the fourth-highest strikeout rate this season and had the highest in 2025 when facing left-handed pitching.

Sale will lead the Braves to a decisive win on Monday night.

COVERS INTEL: Current Angels hitters have combined for a career 32.4% strikeout rate when facing Sale.

Braves vs Angels Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (-105)

Outside of a 17-run outburst on April 2 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Braves' bats haven’t been as loud as you would expect and have plated four runs or fewer in four of their first seven games.

Tonight, they’ll face Angels’ ace, Jose Soriano. The right-hander has yet to allow a run on four hits over 12 innings pitched this season.

Meanwhile, the Angels rank 20th in OPS, 21st in wRC+, and it now sounds like they’ll be without Mike Trout for an extended period of time. That never helps an offense. Runs could be hard to come by tonight.

Braves vs Angels odds

• Moneyline: Atlanta -170 | Los Angeles +145
• Run line: Atlanta -1.5 (+100) | Los Angeles +1.5 (-120)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 | Under 7.5

Braves vs Angels trend

The Angels have hit the Team Total Under in 31 of their last 41 games dating back to last season for +20.90 Units and a 43% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Braves vs. Angels.

How to watch Braves vs Angels and game info

Braves vs Angels latest injuries

Braves vs Angels 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.

Oh, what a difference a day makes.

Before yesterday’s game it felt like the San Diego Padres were on the brink of collapse.

Heading into their first rubber match of the season against the Boston Red Sox, there wasn’t a whole lot of hope they could deliver after losing the first two series of the season.

But the Friars delivered, and then some.

They got off to a rough start, with starter Walker Buehler allowing four runs and only going 2 2/3 innings.

But then, they pounced. A three-run fourth inning and another in the fifth gave the Padres a two-run lead. Wandy Peralta came in to get the final out of the seventh and stumbled, allowing the Sox to tie it up.

But Jackson Merrill left no doubt.

He took Boston reliever Tyler Uberstine deep to give San Diego a lead before Fernando Tatis Jr. brought Gavin Sheets home on an ninth-inning sacrifice fly to make the score 8-6.

Mason Miller came in to close it out and continued his scoreless streak, striking out all three batters and giving the Padres their first series win of 2026.

(A fun note: Miller has now struck out nine straight batters. The record is 13, held by fellow Padres reliever Jeremiah Estrada.)

Now they’ll turn to a dominant Pittsburgh Pirates rotation and a reunion with former Padres first baseman Ryan O’Hearn.

Taking the mound

Bubba Chandler (PIT) v. Germán Márquez (SD)

Chandler had a fantastic first outing for the Pirates, going 4 1/3 scoreless innings for the club with six strikeouts.

Pittsburgh is nothing without their young, dominant rotation (highlighted by their ace Paul Skenes) but Chandler represents a fascinating rookie who could be just as much of a threat.

The Padres have been solid batting against righties, hopefully they can chase him from the game early and get to the relievers.

Márquez, on the other hand, had an uninspiring debut in a Padres uniform. He gave up four runs in only three innings in what ended up being a loss for the Friars to the division-rival San Francisco Giants.

If he can turn it around in this outing against Pittsburgh, it’ll go a long way to quelling the doubts about his ability to hold a back-end spot in the rotation.

But it’s a difficult lineup, with sluggers like Oneil Cruz, O’Hearn and Marcell Ozuna stacking up. If Márquez can make it through relatively unscathed, it’ll be a success.

Batter up!

With the 12-hit performance San Diego had against Boston yesterday, the Padres’ bats seem to have woken up (at least a little).

Chief of those is Manny Machado who went 2-for-4 with a three-run shot over the Green Monster in left field.

The Friars have continued to preach that their at-bats are good and they’ll get the results they want eventually, and they finally seem to have.

Hopefully that will remain the same as they face a difficult starting rotation in Pittsburgh. First they’ll face the rookie Chandler.

They haven’t faced a righty since Sonny Gray so their lineup will look similar to that. But Ramón Laureano has continued to rake so he’ll probably remain second in the batting order:

1. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
2. Ramón Laureano, LF
3. Jackson Merrill, CF
4. Manny Machado, 3B
5. Xander Bogaerts, SS
6. Gavin Sheets, 1B
7. Nick Castellanos, DH
8. Jake Cronenworth, 2B
9. Luis Campusano, C

Sheets went 4-for-6 through Wednesday and Friday’s games before not starting in both of the Friars’ wins. His bat was hot but he only got one at-bat (he doubled) in the last two games against Boston.

He’ll figure to start at first base for the Padres given his red-hot bat and solid defense.

Relief corps

The difficult thing with yesterday’s game was Buehler’s start.

After only lasting 2 2/3 innings, the Friars were forced to turn to their bullpen depth (who held it down). But the problem is that they used Kyle Hart, Bradgley Rodriguez, Peralta, Estrada and Miller.

Márquez has not yet proven he can go more than a few innings for San Diego after only lasting three in his start against the Giants last Tuesday.

If he falters, the ‘pen may have a difficult time recovering for the rest of the series without a gem from Nick Pivetta tomorrow.

Those who will be readily available are Ron Marinaccio, David Morgan, and Adrian Morejon. Morejon threw 29 pitches and has been a little shaky thus far this year, so Marinaccio and Morgan will likely be turned to first if Márquez falters.

Oh, what a difference a day makes.

Before yesterday’s game it felt like the San Diego Padres were on the brink of collapse.

Heading into their first rubber match of the season against the Boston Red Sox, there wasn’t a whole lot of hope they could deliver after losing the first two series of the season.

But the Friars delivered, and then some.

They got off to a rough start, with starter Walker Buehler allowing four runs and only going 2 2/3 innings.

But then, they pounced. A three-run fourth inning and another in the fifth gave the Padres a two-run lead. Wandy Peralta came in to get the final out of the seventh and stumbled, allowing the Sox to tie it up.

But Jackson Merrill left no doubt.

He took Boston reliever Tyler Uberstine deep to give San Diego a lead before Fernando Tatis Jr. brought Gavin Sheets home on an ninth-inning sacrifice fly to make the score 8-6.

Mason Miller came in to close it out and continued his scoreless streak, striking out all three batters and giving the Padres their first series win of 2026.

(A fun note: Miller has now struck out nine straight batters. The record is 13, held by fellow Padres reliever Jeremiah Estrada.)

Now they’ll turn to a dominant Pittsburgh Pirates rotation and a reunion with former Padres first baseman Ryan O’Hearn.

Taking the mound

Bubba Chandler (PIT) v. Germán Márquez (SD)

Chandler had a fantastic first outing for the Pirates, going 4 1/3 scoreless innings for the club with six strikeouts.

Pittsburgh is nothing without their young, dominant rotation (highlighted by their ace Paul Skenes) but Chandler represents a fascinating rookie who could be just as much of a threat.

The Padres have been solid batting against righties, hopefully they can chase him from the game early and get to the relievers.

Márquez, on the other hand, had an uninspiring debut in a Padres uniform. He gave up four runs in only three innings in what ended up being a loss for the Friars to the division-rival San Francisco Giants.

If he can turn it around in this outing against Pittsburgh, it’ll go a long way to quelling the doubts about his ability to hold a back-end spot in the rotation.

But it’s a difficult lineup, with sluggers like Oneil Cruz, O’Hearn and Marcell Ozuna stacking up. If Márquez can make it through relatively unscathed, it’ll be a success.

Batter up!

With the 12-hit performance San Diego had against Boston yesterday, the Padres’ bats seem to have woken up (at least a little).

Chief of those is Manny Machado who went 2-for-4 with a three-run shot over the Green Monster in left field.

The Friars have continued to preach that their at-bats are good and they’ll get the results they want eventually, and they finally seem to have.

Hopefully that will remain the same as they face a difficult starting rotation in Pittsburgh. First they’ll face the rookie Chandler.

They haven’t faced a righty since Sonny Gray so their lineup will look similar to that. But Ramón Laureano has continued to rake so he’ll probably remain second in the batting order:

1. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
2. Ramón Laureano, LF
3. Jackson Merrill, CF
4. Manny Machado, 3B
5. Xander Bogaerts, SS
6. Gavin Sheets, 1B
7. Nick Castellanos, DH
8. Jake Cronenworth, 2B
9. Luis Campusano, C

Sheets went 4-for-6 through Wednesday and Friday’s games before not starting in both of the Friars’ wins. His bat was hot but he only got one at-bat (he doubled) in the last two games against Boston.

He’ll figure to start at first base for the Padres given his red-hot bat and solid defense.

Relief corps

The difficult thing with yesterday’s game was Buehler’s start.

After only lasting 2 2/3 innings, the Friars were forced to turn to their bullpen depth (who held it down). But the problem is that they used Kyle Hart, Bradgley Rodriguez, Peralta, Estrada and Miller.

Márquez has not yet proven he can go more than a few innings for San Diego after only lasting three in his start against the Giants last Tuesday.

If he falters, the ‘pen may have a difficult time recovering for the rest of the series without a gem from Nick Pivetta tomorrow.

Those who will be readily available are Ron Marinaccio, David Morgan, and Adrian Morejon. Morejon threw 29 pitches and has been a little shaky thus far this year, so Marinaccio and Morgan will likely be turned to first if Márquez falters.

With an off-day today, it seems like a good time to take stock of the early going. We have now completed two turns around the rotation, and Arizona has gone 5-5 against a trio of teams Fangraphs currently has at better than sixty percent odds to make the postseason. Could certainly be worse. [Looks over at San Francisco, 3-7 and in last place in the division, their suckiest start since 2015] Of course, there’s still room for improvement. But given the toughness of the early schedule, keeping around .500, say through mid-May would by no means be a bad thing. However there’s still room for improvement. Let’s look at what has and hasn’t worked so far for Arizona

Hitting

• Runs per game: 3.5 (25th in MLB)
• OPS+: 80 (26th)
• BA: .211 (22nd)
• OBP: .271 (28th)
• SLG: .367 (17th)

This is certainly the area where there has been the biggest drop-off. Last year through ten games, Arizona had scored 58 runs, with an OPS of .800. That’s 162 points better than the figure this year. Some of that may be bad luck. The team’s BABIP this season is .245: 47 points down on a year ago, and ranked 28th. Three regulars have posted an OPS+ of lower than 25 – Nolan Arenado (23), Alek Thomas (15) and Carlos Santana (-19). But let’s be honest: nobody really expected much from them at the plate. Almost as troubling has been three others who were expected to produce. Gabriel Moreno, Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte all have OPSs in the sixties.

Some of this may rectify itself. Marte in particular is hammering the ball. Only two players have more balls classified by Baseball Savant as hard-hit (95+ mph) than Marte’s 18. The problem is, Marte’s average launch angle is 6.9 degrees. It doesn’t matter how hard you hit the ball if you are pounding it into the ground. Last year, Ketel’s launch angle was a much more productive 14.8 degrees. Thomas may simply be unlucky. More than half his balls in play have been hard-hit (52.4%) and the launch angle of 17.8 degrees is fine too. But his BABIP is all the way down at .190. I’d expect his results to improve going forward. Just keep doing what you’re doing, Alek.

Arizona ranks much nearer the middle of the pack in these peripheral offensive metrics. Their hard-hit percentage of 41.1% is twelfth, with a launch angle of 13.5 degrees which is 14th. What is odd is, the offensive struggles have not been due to a team-wide lack of clutch hitting. With runners in scoring position, Arizona has an OPS of .793. That’s eighth-best in the majors. Though it is hugely variable. Marte, Perdomo, Moreno and Santana are a collective 1-for-26 with RISP. Ketel’s walk-off hit yesterday afternoon was that quartet’s first clutch hit of the season. But generally, it has been struggling to get runner on base. With nobody aboard, Arizona has an OPS of just .579.

Starting pitching

• ERA: 3.29 (11th)
• FIP: 4.37 (24th)
• fWAR: 0.5 (24th)
• K:BB: 2.06 (23rd)
• K%: 17.4% (29th)
• BB%: 8.5% (15th)

It’s less the overall performance of the rotation which has been a surprise, than who has been delivering it. After two starts apiece, Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Soroka have combined to throw 22 innings while allowing just a single earned run. Anybody see that coming? Zac Gallen has been okay: one meh start, one good one. But it’s the in-house products of Ryne Nelson and Brandon Pfaadt who have struggled, with a combined ERA there of 6.30. All told, the overall numbers have been good. That ERA is exactly one run better than the Arizona rotation delivered in 2025. But there’s cause to wonder if that is sustainable.

In particular, look at the FIP, which gives back all that improvement, and a little more. It’s worse than the equivalent figure last season (4.21). You don’t have to look far to see why. Arizona’s starters are not missing enough bats. Starters generally this year are basically at 9.0 Ks per nine innings. Arizona are second-worst, all the way down at 6.4. Soroka, who has 13 strikeouts in ten innings, is the only one even at 7.0. Everybody else has combined for 24 Ks over 42 IP. Gallen has fanned only four of the forty batters he has faced. The performance has been very reliant on a .238 BABIP, fourth-lowest in baseball. That may well regress, and it probably won’t be pretty when it does.

Relief pitching

• ERA: 6.50 (29th)
• FIP: 5.03 (21st)
• fWAR: -0.3 (21st)
• WP: +26% (12th)
• Shutdowns: 16 (3rd)
• Meltdowns: 9 (3rd)

The situation here is likely the reverse, in that things aren’t bad as they seem. As noted in yesterday’s recaps, half of the 26 runs allowed by the bullpen belong to the junkball arms of the DFA’d Joe Ross and backup catcher James McCann, who gave up 13 ER in 4.2 IP. Take them out, and Arizona’s relief ERA plummets to a much more respectable 3.73. That would actually be ranked in the top half by overall bullpen ERA, a position the D-backs have not occupied for a very long time. Of course, any other team would improve if you took out their two worst arms as well, but likely not to such a dramatic degree.

It has felt to me like the bullpen has been feast or famine, and you can see that in the shutdowns and meltdowns, where Arizona ranks close to the top in both categories. It seems like almost every game, one reliever or another will have a sticky outing, but everyone else is solid. Consequently, almost two-thirds of D-backs’ relief appearances (25 of 38) have been classed as a shutdown or a meltdown, a far higher ratio than last year’s 41.6%. I think we are still figuring out who can be trusted. But things haven’t been too bad thus far, despite the absence of left-handed options. Hopefully, we can keep improvising until reinforcements arrive, in the shapes of A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez.

Defense and base-running

• DRS: +15 (1st)
• Def: +3.2 (4th)
• Errors: 5 (=10th)
• SB/CS/OOB: 6/2/3
• BSR: -1.4 (27th)

Torey Lovullo made defense a priority after a “disgusting” campaign with the glove in 2025. That was a key factor in the signings of Arenado and Santana, and going by the metrics so far, that seems to have paid off. While these are still very small samples, Arizona have been among the best teams on defense so far. Particularly outstanding has been Thomas, who certainly has not let his struggles at the plate carry over into the field. By DRS (Defensive Runs Saved), Alek’s +4 leads all major-leaguers, with Marte just behind him at +3. Fangraphs’ Def also has Thomas as the best fielder in the majors. Early days, but a Gold Glove could be in Thomas’s future.

The base-running got off to a rough start, with multiple TOOTBLANs over the opening series in Los Angeles. Things have calmed down, with no outs on the basepaths since. Indeed, the team might now be skewing too conservative. Looking at the percentage of times they take an extra base, e.g. scoring from second base on a single, Arizona’s figure of 31% is the third-lowest in the majors. In particular, the D-backs have had a runner on first 22 times when a single was hit. Only twice has that runner reached third safely. Last year, that happened around 33% of the time for Arizona. We might want to pick that up.

Conclusions

As you would perhaps expect from a team with a 5-5 record, it has very much been a mixed bag for the Diamondbacks. That’s in line with the emotional roller-coaster we’ve gone through. From being swept by the Dodgers, to sweeping the Tigers, to being clubbed mercilessly by the Braves, to walking them off yesterday. It is still only ten games, and I expect more or less everything to normalize as the sample size increases. That overall win record may be the most accurate reflection of where the team is heading, rather than particular areas or individual performances.

With an off-day today, it seems like a good time to take stock of the early going. We have now completed two turns around the rotation, and Arizona has gone 5-5 against a trio of teams Fangraphs currently has at better than sixty percent odds to make the postseason. Could certainly be worse. [Looks over at San Francisco, 3-7 and in last place in the division, their suckiest start since 2015] Of course, there’s still room for improvement. But given the toughness of the early schedule, keeping around .500, say through mid-May would by no means be a bad thing. However there’s still room for improvement. Let’s look at what has and hasn’t worked so far for Arizona

Hitting

• Runs per game: 3.5 (25th in MLB)
• OPS+: 80 (26th)
• BA: .211 (22nd)
• OBP: .271 (28th)
• SLG: .367 (17th)

This is certainly the area where there has been the biggest drop-off. Last year through ten games, Arizona had scored 58 runs, with an OPS of .800. That’s 162 points better than the figure this year. Some of that may be bad luck. The team’s BABIP this season is .245: 47 points down on a year ago, and ranked 28th. Three regulars have posted an OPS+ of lower than 25 – Nolan Arenado (23), Alek Thomas (15) and Carlos Santana (-19). But let’s be honest: nobody really expected much from them at the plate. Almost as troubling has been three others who were expected to produce. Gabriel Moreno, Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte all have OPSs in the sixties.

Some of this may rectify itself. Marte in particular is hammering the ball. Only two players have more balls classified by Baseball Savant as hard-hit (95+ mph) than Marte’s 18. The problem is, Marte’s average launch angle is 6.9 degrees. It doesn’t matter how hard you hit the ball if you are pounding it into the ground. Last year, Ketel’s launch angle was a much more productive 14.8 degrees. Thomas may simply be unlucky. More than half his balls in play have been hard-hit (52.4%) and the launch angle of 17.8 degrees is fine too. But his BABIP is all the way down at .190. I’d expect his results to improve going forward. Just keep doing what you’re doing, Alek.

Arizona ranks much nearer the middle of the pack in these peripheral offensive metrics. Their hard-hit percentage of 41.1% is twelfth, with a launch angle of 13.5 degrees which is 14th. What is odd is, the offensive struggles have not been due to a team-wide lack of clutch hitting. With runners in scoring position, Arizona has an OPS of .793. That’s eighth-best in the majors. Though it is hugely variable. Marte, Perdomo, Moreno and Santana are a collective 1-for-26 with RISP. Ketel’s walk-off hit yesterday afternoon was that quartet’s first clutch hit of the season. But generally, it has been struggling to get runner on base. With nobody aboard, Arizona has an OPS of just .579.

Starting pitching

• ERA: 3.29 (11th)
• FIP: 4.37 (24th)
• fWAR: 0.5 (24th)
• K:BB: 2.06 (23rd)
• K%: 17.4% (29th)
• BB%: 8.5% (15th)

It’s less the overall performance of the rotation which has been a surprise, than who has been delivering it. After two starts apiece, Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Soroka have combined to throw 22 innings while allowing just a single earned run. Anybody see that coming? Zac Gallen has been okay: one meh start, one good one. But it’s the in-house products of Ryne Nelson and Brandon Pfaadt who have struggled, with a combined ERA there of 6.30. All told, the overall numbers have been good. That ERA is exactly one run better than the Arizona rotation delivered in 2025. But there’s cause to wonder if that is sustainable.

In particular, look at the FIP, which gives back all that improvement, and a little more. It’s worse than the equivalent figure last season (4.21). You don’t have to look far to see why. Arizona’s starters are not missing enough bats. Starters generally this year are basically at 9.0 Ks per nine innings. Arizona are second-worst, all the way down at 6.4. Soroka, who has 13 strikeouts in ten innings, is the only one even at 7.0. Everybody else has combined for 24 Ks over 42 IP. Gallen has fanned only four of the forty batters he has faced. The performance has been very reliant on a .238 BABIP, fourth-lowest in baseball. That may well regress, and it probably won’t be pretty when it does.

Relief pitching

• ERA: 6.50 (29th)
• FIP: 5.03 (21st)
• fWAR: -0.3 (21st)
• WP: +26% (12th)
• Shutdowns: 16 (3rd)
• Meltdowns: 9 (3rd)

The situation here is likely the reverse, in that things aren’t bad as they seem. As noted in yesterday’s recaps, half of the 26 runs allowed by the bullpen belong to the junkball arms of the DFA’d Joe Ross and backup catcher James McCann, who gave up 13 ER in 4.2 IP. Take them out, and Arizona’s relief ERA plummets to a much more respectable 3.73. That would actually be ranked in the top half by overall bullpen ERA, a position the D-backs have not occupied for a very long time. Of course, any other team would improve if you took out their two worst arms as well, but likely not to such a dramatic degree.

It has felt to me like the bullpen has been feast or famine, and you can see that in the shutdowns and meltdowns, where Arizona ranks close to the top in both categories. It seems like almost every game, one reliever or another will have a sticky outing, but everyone else is solid. Consequently, almost two-thirds of D-backs’ relief appearances (25 of 38) have been classed as a shutdown or a meltdown, a far higher ratio than last year’s 41.6%. I think we are still figuring out who can be trusted. But things haven’t been too bad thus far, despite the absence of left-handed options. Hopefully, we can keep improvising until reinforcements arrive, in the shapes of A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez.

Defense and base-running

• DRS: +15 (1st)
• Def: +3.2 (4th)
• Errors: 5 (=10th)
• SB/CS/OOB: 6/2/3
• BSR: -1.4 (27th)

Torey Lovullo made defense a priority after a “disgusting” campaign with the glove in 2025. That was a key factor in the signings of Arenado and Santana, and going by the metrics so far, that seems to have paid off. While these are still very small samples, Arizona have been among the best teams on defense so far. Particularly outstanding has been Thomas, who certainly has not let his struggles at the plate carry over into the field. By DRS (Defensive Runs Saved), Alek’s +4 leads all major-leaguers, with Marte just behind him at +3. Fangraphs’ Def also has Thomas as the best fielder in the majors. Early days, but a Gold Glove could be in Thomas’s future.

The base-running got off to a rough start, with multiple TOOTBLANs over the opening series in Los Angeles. Things have calmed down, with no outs on the basepaths since. Indeed, the team might now be skewing too conservative. Looking at the percentage of times they take an extra base, e.g. scoring from second base on a single, Arizona’s figure of 31% is the third-lowest in the majors. In particular, the D-backs have had a runner on first 22 times when a single was hit. Only twice has that runner reached third safely. Last year, that happened around 33% of the time for Arizona. We might want to pick that up.

Conclusions

As you would perhaps expect from a team with a 5-5 record, it has very much been a mixed bag for the Diamondbacks. That’s in line with the emotional roller-coaster we’ve gone through. From being swept by the Dodgers, to sweeping the Tigers, to being clubbed mercilessly by the Braves, to walking them off yesterday. It is still only ten games, and I expect more or less everything to normalize as the sample size increases. That overall win record may be the most accurate reflection of where the team is heading, rather than particular areas or individual performances.

The Atlanta Braves are coming off a disappointing series against the Arizona Diamondbacks and will stay out west to face the Angels. Chris Sale will be taking the mound facing off against José Soriano, who has firmly cemented himself as the best pitcher in the Angels’ rotation.

Soriano has started the season of in incredible fashion. He has made two starts and pitched a total of 12.0 innings and has only given up four hits. He has yet to give up a single earned run this season. His only blemish is that he has walked four hitters to striking out eleven. Hitters so far have a .105 average against him, and he is inducing ground outs at twice the rate of outs in the air.

With Soriano spending his entire career so far with the Angels, the players on the Braves’ roster have not seen him much. Jonah Heim has twelve at-bats against him, but those were not in a Braves uniform. Outside of Heim, no other player on the roster has seen Soriano more than six at-bats.

Even though Heim has seen him the most, it has not helped. He has a .083 average in his limited action. Acuña, Albies, Farmer, and Harris are all hitless against Soriano, although it is hard to make any type of conclusion after only seeing him a few times.

The player with the most success against Soriano is Matt Olson with a .333 average and 1.000 OPS, but that is in only three at-bats. On paper the Braves’ offense does not have an upper hand in this matchup. The only area that sticks out in terms of hope for a fun night offensively is that there is a large gap in Soriano’s wOBA against him versus his xwOBA. His wOBA against of .175 is in the best 9.0 percent in MLB, but his xwOBA against is much higher at .266. An xwOBA against of .266 is still very good. For reference the league average over the past four seasons is .315.

Chris Sale is taking the mound with a pristine ERA of 0.75 after two starts and 12.0 innings pitched. His strikeout rate so far this season of 21.4 percent is well below his career average of 32.3, and his walk rate of 7.1 percent is the highest of his career, so both of those are concerning.

There is a bright spot to his metrics outside of the obvious ERA. He is inducing ground balls at a 48.3 percent clip. That number is 12.0 percent better than league average and is well above his career rate of 42.3 percent. We also need to consider that in his last game he was battling flu symptoms. If last game he was actually feeling poor and he is inducing a ton of grounders, it is a good sign of things to come this evening.

Most players on the Angels have faced Sale before, but only two have faced him fourteen times or more. 2021 World Series hero Jorge Soler has fourteen at-bats against Sale but has struggled with a .143 average and .536 OPS. Mike Trout has twenty at-bats with a HR, .300 average, and .940 OPS. However, Trout is day-to-day, so we don’t know for sure if he will play or not.

We can hope that the Braves offense can kick it into gear again tonight, but Soriano has been on fire. It looks like we may be in store for a fun night filled with great pitching.

First pitch is at 9:38 PM EDT

Game Info

Game Time: Monday, April 6th, 9:38 pm EDT

Location: Angel Stadium, Anaheim, CA

Watch: BravesVision

Radio/Audio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

The Atlanta Braves are coming off a disappointing series against the Arizona Diamondbacks and will stay out west to face the Angels. Chris Sale will be taking the mound facing off against José Soriano, who has firmly cemented himself as the best pitcher in the Angels’ rotation.

Soriano has started the season of in incredible fashion. He has made two starts and pitched a total of 12.0 innings and has only given up four hits. He has yet to give up a single earned run this season. His only blemish is that he has walked four hitters to striking out eleven. Hitters so far have a .105 average against him, and he is inducing ground outs at twice the rate of outs in the air.

With Soriano spending his entire career so far with the Angels, the players on the Braves’ roster have not seen him much. Jonah Heim has twelve at-bats against him, but those were not in a Braves uniform. Outside of Heim, no other player on the roster has seen Soriano more than six at-bats.

Even though Heim has seen him the most, it has not helped. He has a .083 average in his limited action. Acuña, Albies, Farmer, and Harris are all hitless against Soriano, although it is hard to make any type of conclusion after only seeing him a few times.

The player with the most success against Soriano is Matt Olson with a .333 average and 1.000 OPS, but that is in only three at-bats. On paper the Braves’ offense does not have an upper hand in this matchup. The only area that sticks out in terms of hope for a fun night offensively is that there is a large gap in Soriano’s wOBA against him versus his xwOBA. His wOBA against of .175 is in the best 9.0 percent in MLB, but his xwOBA against is much higher at .266. An xwOBA against of .266 is still very good. For reference the league average over the past four seasons is .315.

Chris Sale is taking the mound with a pristine ERA of 0.75 after two starts and 12.0 innings pitched. His strikeout rate so far this season of 21.4 percent is well below his career average of 32.3, and his walk rate of 7.1 percent is the highest of his career, so both of those are concerning.

There is a bright spot to his metrics outside of the obvious ERA. He is inducing ground balls at a 48.3 percent clip. That number is 12.0 percent better than league average and is well above his career rate of 42.3 percent. We also need to consider that in his last game he was battling flu symptoms. If last game he was actually feeling poor and he is inducing a ton of grounders, it is a good sign of things to come this evening.

Most players on the Angels have faced Sale before, but only two have faced him fourteen times or more. 2021 World Series hero Jorge Soler has fourteen at-bats against Sale but has struggled with a .143 average and .536 OPS. Mike Trout has twenty at-bats with a HR, .300 average, and .940 OPS. However, Trout is day-to-day, so we don’t know for sure if he will play or not.

We can hope that the Braves offense can kick it into gear again tonight, but Soriano has been on fire. It looks like we may be in store for a fun night filled with great pitching.

First pitch is at 9:38 PM EDT

Game Info

Game Time: Monday, April 6th, 9:38 pm EDT

Location: Angel Stadium, Anaheim, CA

Watch: BravesVision

Radio/Audio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

The Mets have officially placed Juan Soto on the 10-day IL, retroactive to April 4, with a right calf strain, and have recalled Ronny Mauricio to take his place on the roster. The Mets stated that a typical return to play is two to three weeks, which puts him on pace to return some time during the team’s nine-game homestand later this month.

The Mets and Soto were hoping to avoid an IL stint after the star outfielder injured his calf running first to third on a single during the team’s Friday night win against the Giants. However, that was not to be, as Soto will now sit on the sidelines for the time being. Soto sat out on Saturday and Sunday, and the club wanted to see how he felt before making any final decisions. This is Soto’s first trip to the injured list since April 2021, as he has proved to be one of MLB’s most durable players—he has appeared in at least 150 games during each full season played between 2019 and 2025.

The offense performed well in his absence, winning all three games he missed—we’ll count Friday, since he left in the first inning. The offense erupted for a combined 24 runs across the three wins, which is a good sign, and they’re going to need that to continue for at least a couple more weeks. Still, missing 2-3 weeks, especially in April, is a better outcome than was reasonable at the time of Soto’s exit.

For the time being, the Mets will continue to use a number of players to fill the void. Jared Young, for example, started in left on Sunday and went 3-for-3. Brett Baty will also see time in left, while continuing to move around the field and play some right and first. Tyrone Taylor, who played right field on Sunday (with Carson Benge in center) could also appear in left if needed. All that is to say that the club will look to make due, and if you’re going to lose a player of Soto’s caliber at any point in the season, April is preferable to the summer months.

The Mets have officially placed Juan Soto on the 10-day IL, retroactive to April 4, with a right calf strain, and have recalled Ronny Mauricio to take his place on the roster. The Mets stated that a typical return to play is two to three weeks, which puts him on pace to return some time during the team’s nine-game homestand later this month.

The Mets and Soto were hoping to avoid an IL stint after the star outfielder injured his calf running first to third on a single during the team’s Friday night win against the Giants. However, that was not to be, as Soto will now sit on the sidelines for the time being. Soto sat out on Saturday and Sunday, and the club wanted to see how he felt before making any final decisions. This is Soto’s first trip to the injured list since April 2021, as he has proved to be one of MLB’s most durable players—he has appeared in at least 150 games during each full season played between 2019 and 2025.

The offense performed well in his absence, winning all three games he missed—we’ll count Friday, since he left in the first inning. The offense erupted for a combined 24 runs across the three wins, which is a good sign, and they’re going to need that to continue for at least a couple more weeks. Still, missing 2-3 weeks, especially in April, is a better outcome than was reasonable at the time of Soto’s exit.

For the time being, the Mets will continue to use a number of players to fill the void. Jared Young, for example, started in left on Sunday and went 3-for-3. Brett Baty will also see time in left, while continuing to move around the field and play some right and first. Tyrone Taylor, who played right field on Sunday (with Carson Benge in center) could also appear in left if needed. All that is to say that the club will look to make due, and if you’re going to lose a player of Soto’s caliber at any point in the season, April is preferable to the summer months.

The Mets have placed outfielder Juan Soto on the 10-day IL due to the minor calf strain he suffered against the Giants on Friday in San Francisco.

The move is retroactive to Saturday.

In the press release announcing the IL stint, the Mets noted that "a typical return to play for this type of injury is approximately 2-3 weeks."

In a corresponding move, the Mets called infielder Ronny Mauricio up from Triple-A Syracuse. 

On Saturday, manager Carlos Mendoza said Soto "was in a really good place," adding that the plan was to give Soto 48-72 hours to see how he progresses before determining next steps.

Playing all but one inning of the final three games against the Giants without Soto, the Mets scored 24 runs as they won all three.

Soto had been on fire to start the season, slashing .355/.412/.516.

With Soto out, Jared Young has excelled, reaching base in four of his five plate appearances.

On Sunday, Young went 3-for-3 with a double and played stellar defense in left field. 

The Mets have placed outfielder Juan Soto on the 10-day IL due to the minor calf strain he suffered against the Giants on Friday in San Francisco.

The move is retroactive to Saturday.

In the press release announcing the IL stint, the Mets noted that "a typical return to play for this type of injury is approximately 2-3 weeks."

In a corresponding move, the Mets called infielder Ronny Mauricio up from Triple-A Syracuse. 

On Saturday, manager Carlos Mendoza said Soto "was in a really good place," adding that the plan was to give Soto 48-72 hours to see how he progresses before determining next steps.

Playing all but one inning of the final three games against the Giants without Soto, the Mets scored 24 runs as they won all three.

Soto had been on fire to start the season, slashing .355/.412/.516.

With Soto out, Jared Young has excelled, reaching base in four of his five plate appearances.

On Sunday, Young went 3-for-3 with a double and played stellar defense in left field. 

Ok. The Red Sox are now 2-7 on the season after three series. They were meh against the Reds. Then bad against the Astros. And actually played the Padres pretty hard, more or less, but came away 1-2.

The absence of Garrett Whitlock — who, to be clear, 100% should be allowed the time off for paternity leave and isn’t at fault — really hurt them on Saturday and Sunday, especially with Oviedo looking not great in his first appearance and then hitting the IL. They only need to go, uh, 87-68 the rest of the year to finish with the same record as 2025.

The Brewers are having the opposite start to the season: they’re rolling. Milwaukee will come to Boston sitting on a 6-1 record.

Remember Brandon Woodruff? He was pretty big for Milwaukee through 2022. Then he had injury-shortened seasons in 2023 and 2025 surrounding an entirely lost 2024 campaign on the shelf. But he’s back now. In his first start of 2026 he tossed five innings of two-run ball against the Tampa Bay Rays. He’s going up against Brayan Bello, who’s looking to bounce back from his start against the Astros. The goal this spring was to give him more swing-and-miss in his game and that part of his last outing was a success. Hopefully there is more to come.

Tuesday is Jacob Misiorowski, aka The Miz vs. Garrett Crochet. The pitching phenom against The Pig. Misiorowski, a 24-year-old righty, enters the day with a 2.45 ERA / 3.91 FIP. To watch for: 18 strikeouts in his first 11 innings against the Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays. Glass half full or half empty, this could be a rough night for the Sox hitters. Crochet will need to be fully in control and bring at least his B game. In their meeting last year, Crochet struck out 11 Brewers in 6.2 innings as the Red Sox lost 3-2. Maybe bring the A game to be safe.

Wednesday is a getaway day before an off-day to travel and, maybe, reset. Chad Patrick will take the ball for the Brewers. In two starts he has an ERA of 0.96 (FIP 4.36) after allowing just one runs over two starts totaling 9.1 innings. Again, it’s the White Sox and Royals, so not the greatest accomplishments, but also not nothing. That’s three more righties for the Boston lefty hitters to feast on. Platoon advantage doesn’t guarantee results but it’s nice to have all the same. Sonny Gray will make his third start in a Boston uniform and we’ll all hope it goes more like his second. Two runs in six innings when your team can give you five is good enough for a win.

William Contreras, brother of Willson, will be in town. He’s off to a .259/.375/.481 start with a homer.

Christian Yelich is hitting .353/.389/.529 with a homer and is as hot at the plate as he could be.

Old friend David Hamilton has stolen four bases for the Brewers.

The good news? After the Brewers series the Sox go on the road for six games against the rebuilding Cardinals (4-4 ahead of Sunday Night Baseball) and Twins (3-6). And then another potentially brutal stretch facing the Tigers and Yankees. But good teams win against good teams so we’ll see what happens.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Monday, April 6: Brandon Woodruff (3.60 ERA / 5.98 FIP) vs. Brayan Bello (9.64 ERA / 7.04 FIP)

Tuesday, April 7: Jacob Misiorowski (2.45 ERA / 3.91 FIP) vs. Garrett Crochet (3.27 ERA / 2.73 FIP)

Wednesday, April 8: Chad Patrick (0.96 ERA / 4.36 FIP) vs. Sonny Gray (4.50 ERA / 3.18 FIP)

When/Where to Watch

Monday, April 6 at 6:45 PM ET on NESN

Tuesday, April 7: 6:45 PM ET on NESN

Wednesday, April 8: 1:35 PM ET on NESN

Ok. The Red Sox are now 2-7 on the season after three series. They were meh against the Reds. Then bad against the Astros. And actually played the Padres pretty hard, more or less, but came away 1-2.

The absence of Garrett Whitlock — who, to be clear, 100% should be allowed the time off for paternity leave and isn’t at fault — really hurt them on Saturday and Sunday, especially with Oviedo looking not great in his first appearance and then hitting the IL. They only need to go, uh, 87-68 the rest of the year to finish with the same record as 2025.

The Brewers are having the opposite start to the season: they’re rolling. Milwaukee will come to Boston sitting on a 6-1 record.

Remember Brandon Woodruff? He was pretty big for Milwaukee through 2022. Then he had injury-shortened seasons in 2023 and 2025 surrounding an entirely lost 2024 campaign on the shelf. But he’s back now. In his first start of 2026 he tossed five innings of two-run ball against the Tampa Bay Rays. He’s going up against Brayan Bello, who’s looking to bounce back from his start against the Astros. The goal this spring was to give him more swing-and-miss in his game and that part of his last outing was a success. Hopefully there is more to come.

Tuesday is Jacob Misiorowski, aka The Miz vs. Garrett Crochet. The pitching phenom against The Pig. Misiorowski, a 24-year-old righty, enters the day with a 2.45 ERA / 3.91 FIP. To watch for: 18 strikeouts in his first 11 innings against the Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays. Glass half full or half empty, this could be a rough night for the Sox hitters. Crochet will need to be fully in control and bring at least his B game. In their meeting last year, Crochet struck out 11 Brewers in 6.2 innings as the Red Sox lost 3-2. Maybe bring the A game to be safe.

Wednesday is a getaway day before an off-day to travel and, maybe, reset. Chad Patrick will take the ball for the Brewers. In two starts he has an ERA of 0.96 (FIP 4.36) after allowing just one runs over two starts totaling 9.1 innings. Again, it’s the White Sox and Royals, so not the greatest accomplishments, but also not nothing. That’s three more righties for the Boston lefty hitters to feast on. Platoon advantage doesn’t guarantee results but it’s nice to have all the same. Sonny Gray will make his third start in a Boston uniform and we’ll all hope it goes more like his second. Two runs in six innings when your team can give you five is good enough for a win.

William Contreras, brother of Willson, will be in town. He’s off to a .259/.375/.481 start with a homer.

Christian Yelich is hitting .353/.389/.529 with a homer and is as hot at the plate as he could be.

Old friend David Hamilton has stolen four bases for the Brewers.

The good news? After the Brewers series the Sox go on the road for six games against the rebuilding Cardinals (4-4 ahead of Sunday Night Baseball) and Twins (3-6). And then another potentially brutal stretch facing the Tigers and Yankees. But good teams win against good teams so we’ll see what happens.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Monday, April 6: Brandon Woodruff (3.60 ERA / 5.98 FIP) vs. Brayan Bello (9.64 ERA / 7.04 FIP)

Tuesday, April 7: Jacob Misiorowski (2.45 ERA / 3.91 FIP) vs. Garrett Crochet (3.27 ERA / 2.73 FIP)

Wednesday, April 8: Chad Patrick (0.96 ERA / 4.36 FIP) vs. Sonny Gray (4.50 ERA / 3.18 FIP)

When/Where to Watch

Monday, April 6 at 6:45 PM ET on NESN

Tuesday, April 7: 6:45 PM ET on NESN

Wednesday, April 8: 1:35 PM ET on NESN

The Cubs have not started out the season well, and now have lost a second starting pitcher to injury:

Boyd had a rough outing on Opening Day, but recovered and threw very well last Wednesday against the Angels, striking out 10.

Let’s hope this turns out to be correct:

Javier Assad has made two starts for Triple-A Iowa this year. He threw three shutout innings against Columbus, then got hit pretty hard by Louisville. Assad is pretty much a known quantity; his MLB seasons have all been quite similar. I wouldn’t expect him to give the value Boyd does, but he will eat up some innings and probably throw reasonably well. He threw 75 pitches against Louisville last Thursday, so he should be ready to go tomorrow and perhaps throw up to 90 pitches or so.

This obviously isn’t the way any of us wanted the season to begin. Fortunately for the Cubs, they do have some starting pitcher depth. Let’s hope it doesn’t get tested any further.