Category: MLB

The Pittsburgh Pirates have created their own pitching factory of flame-throwing arms, making an impact in the majors. 

The team that drafted Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Tyler Glasnow, Clay Holmes, and others is ushering in a new wave of stars.

Paul Skenes leads the charge as the best pitcher in the National League, entering 2026 with his first Cy Young Award. 

Young pitchers Braxton Ashcraft and Carmen Mlodzinski began their careers in the bullpen but have the stuff and potential to be impactful MLB starters. 

None of them started the season the way Bubba Chandler did. In more ways than just one.

Baseball’s No. 11 prospect and the No. 2 player in the Pirates farm system, per MLB Pipeline, Chandler flashed his immense potential in front of 22,390 fans at Great American Ballpark on Tuesday.

The fifth and final starter on the Opening Day roster to take the ball for the Bucs, Chandler delivered 4.1 no-hit innings against the Cincinnati Reds. 

Chandler consistently flashed a 99-100 MPH fastball and kept Reds hitters off balance with his breaking pitches, including a 94 MPH changeup.

He allowed one unearned run in the third inning on a play that was initially ruled extra bases for former Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, but later changed to an error on Bryan Reynolds.

Reynolds and Oneil Cruz subtly collided in left-center field, resulting in neither player catching the fly ball, allowing Noelvi Marte to score.

That was the positive part of the outing for Chandler, who also struck out six Cincinnati hitters.

Chandler walked six Reds, including three in the third inning that resulted in Cincinnati posting its first tally of the game.  

He only walked four batters in 31.1 innings split between the rotation and bullpen last season, but walks were an issue in the minors.

Chandler walked 53 hitters over 100 innings at Triple-A Indianapolis, compared to 95 hits and 121 strikeouts in 2025.

A strong athlete who was recruited to Clemson as both a quarterback and a two-way baseball player, Chandler has immense talent and potential. It’s all about harnessing it.

Chandler registered an impressive double play off TJ Friedl, quickly turning like a shortstop or a quarterback completing a slant to pick off Jose Trevino at second base.

There’s no denying Bubba Chandler’s potential. In seven games (four starts) last season, the 6-foot-3 right-hander posted a 4.02 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, one save, and 31 punchouts over 31.1 innings.

Chandler is one of 10 early candidates for Rookie of the Year, alongside Konnor Griffin. He would become the second Pirate to win the award in the last three years after Skenes won it in 2024. 

The Pirates are depending on Chandler to improve his control and turn a top 10 prospect into a top 10 starter in the National League. The ceiling and potential are there for Chandler to become the Pirates’ No. 2 starter and pair a considerable 1-2 punch with Paul Skenes.

The two are lined up back-to-back this season after Chandler started on Tuesday and Skenes on Wednesday. Pittsburgh won both games… Both have elite arsenals… Imagine the possibilities.

Meltdowns of varying scale and on competing fronts for the San Francisco Giants, led to a rather ugly 7-1 loss to the Padres this afternoon. 

Hours after the offense blossomed into a 16-hit, 9-run evening, manager Tony Vitello tried to run the good-vibes back, and…the batting order withered in the harsh light of the noon sun. 

The team’s first failure.

The hit total from Tuesday was halved, then halved again. Just a two-out RBI single from Harrison Bader in the 7th saved the Giants from their third shutout in six games. 

Up and down the line-up, San Francisco struggled to lay off high fastballs from Padre pitching. Starter Nick Pivetta, then reliever Jeremiah Estrada, then Mason Miller all pounded the top of the zone and had hitters at their mercy. Bats chased the tails of four-seams to ridiculous heights. Higher and higher their hacks went. There was no ladder they wouldn’t climb.

Pivetta surrendered just a single hit and two walks while striking out 8 over five innings. San Francisco’s only scoring threat came in the 2nd before the right-hander settled-in in the 3rd. Nasty breaking pitches broke down Casey Schmitt and Willy Adames before he finally fanned Rafael Devers on a 95 MPH letter-high fastball. He’d ultimately strike out 5 in a row from the 2nd to the 4th innings. 

The straight fastball is Pivetta’s meal ticket. It really doesn’t look all that special from the couch cushion, especially in terms of velocity. The secret is it just stays up. He shows the pitch to hitters right out of his high release point. They know what’s coming, their eyes get big when they see it out of his hand, and they swing their bats around, bracing for a collision of epic proportion — and it doesn’t happen. The ball boasts that mysterious and confounding rise. Pivetta rode that rise to a 24 Fastball Run Value, good for the 99th percentile in the league in 2025.    

Based on some of the chase he coaxed from Giants bats this afternoon, Pivetta’s pitch is just as enticing as it was last season. Pair it with a snapping curve/slider, and we got the makings of a frustrating day at the plate. 

About the only thing the Giants hitters did was make Pivetta work. They chased him from the hill after the 5th inning — but their fastball issues didn’t go away with him out of the picture. Jeremiah Estrada took over and went right back to punching four-seamers. Higher and higher he’d go up in the zone, and still Adames and Ramos followed. Mason Miller took the mound and cruised triple-digit missiles, chased by a whiplash slider. A brutal 1-2 combo claimed Matt Chapman, Jung Hoo Lee, and Bader to end the 9th.

The next collapse came on the other side of the baseball with two costly infield errors behind starter Adrian Houser. Both miscues came on eerily similar plays that led to San Diego’s first two runs of the day. 

With two outs in the 1st and Jackson Merrill on first, Manny Machado rolled a grounder towards Matt Chapman at third. Typically, a no-go zone for grounders. The inning was all but over, but considering how deep he was playing, Chapman had to charge hard, field the ball, and throw over to first on the run. Again, this is not a real concern as we’ve seen this done countless times before. But first baseman Schmitt, in stretching for the ball, missed it entirely. The ball ricocheted off Macado’s stomach into shallow right field, allowing Merrill, who was running on the play and never stopped, to score from first.

By definition, a dumb run. A real dud. And yet that dud, only foreshadowed more to come.  

Fast-forward to the 5th. Two outs, runners at the corners, and another impossibly frustratingly slow ball rolled off the bat of a Padre. Forced to charge in, forced to his left, Chapman once again sent another hurried, off-balance throw across the diamond, and once again, Schmitt couldn’t quite wrangle it, allowing San Diego to double their lead with another dumb run. 

That’s one dumb run too many, and the goofed catch earned Schmitt some free and very blunt advice from Chapman when they met on the mound soon after.    

Obviously both balls in play should’ve led to outs. While the errors were equitably split between the two involved, Schmitt’s inexperience showed. A more seasoned receiver jumps off the bag and tries for the tag on the first throw. On the second, he stays more upright, knowing that an exaggerated stretch exposes more than aids. And then there’s that fundamental truth that if you can get leather on the ball, you should catch it. Schmitt, as a true infielder, has built his whole life around that rule. And while he’s relatively new to the position, he is experienced at catching baseballs, and certainly knows the basic tenet of manning a base: ball, then bag. That being said, Chapman has made better throws, and Schmitt was certainly getting jerked around a bit. The first throw appeared to be spinning up the first base line, taking him uncomfortably close to the oncoming runner. The second was thrown from closer range and kept rising like a Pivetta four-seamer. But those excuses wouldn’t fly with Schmitt if he was the one playing third making that throw across the diamond. A first baseman, as the Ringo of the infield, is there to hold up and support the genius of the others. Managing the skips, short-hops, risers, and palm balls — that’s just part of the first base gig.  

While those glove gaffes set the tone in the series finale, the game wasn’t completely out of reach, or obliterated beyond redemption, until José Buttó took over the 8th and delivered the coup de grâce.

The reliever’s first pitch ended up short-hopping the wall for a lead-off double by Machado. His second found an open seat beyond the left field wall. Ramon Laureano’s 2-run double put San Diego up 5-1 and seemed to shake Buttó to his core. He threw seven straight balls, walking the next two batters. Just when an offering in the zone seemed to be an impossibility, he struck out Freddy Fermin…before walking the bases loaded on four straight balls to Bryce Johnson. San Diego would add two more, extending their lead to the final 7-1, on an infield single and subsequent four-pitch walk.  

Buttó surrendered four runs on three hits and four walks. Of the 28 pitches he threw before he was mercifully removed, Buttó recorded just five strikes (not including the 3 hits surrendered). It got to the point where the only explanation for such a derailment was an injury, and under this pretense he was mercifully removed. Ryan Borucki took over and needed three pitches to induce an inning-ending double-play. 

While a lot of players will be leaving San Diego with their tail between their legs, there were some positives. Overall, a series win is a series win. Two out of three in San Diego is fine by me. 

Luis Arraez, hitting clean-up, collected three of the team’s four hits and scored their only run. Harrison Bader came up with a face-saving, two-out RBI.

Adrian Houser, in his Giants debut, was probably kept in one or two batters too long in the 6th, nor did he get much support around him, but he threw well. He pitched to contact with a sinker-change-up interplay similar to Webb’s, and on a better day more representative of the infield’s abilities, he’ll be rewarded for eliciting those ground balls. 

Speaking of which, while Chapman and Schmitt struggled to connect, Chapman and fellow Gold Glover Patrick Bailey had no trouble teaming up for a couple of slick, run-saving putouts.

At least someone can catch the f***ing ball.     

As a wise giant once said: “it is happening again.” For the sixth time in seven seasons the Mariners carry a 3-4 record after their first seven games. This simply isn’t a roster that gets off to a hot start. And for reasons ranging from the sensible to the silly, that’s basically fine.

For one: it’s cold in Seattle! I probably don’t need to tell you this dear reader but the temperature at first pitch was 47 degrees! Fine for football weather but downright miserable for baseball. It’s so cold that Luke Raley’s bat is deciding that it does not want to be a baseball bat anymore in the cover image.

That cold tends to favor pitchers, so it is perhaps no surprise that today’s contest was a pitcher’s duel for the first five innings. Mariners starter George Kirby allowed a first inning run off a walk, stolen base, and ground ball double up the first base line, but was absolutely dominant for much of the rest of his outing. He rolled through the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings while only allowing two baserunners.

Unfortunately, so did Yankees starter Cam Schlitter whose fastball was absolutely unhittable. Watching the game, it seemed like Raley wasn’t the only player missing a barrel on his bat. Everyone, from superstar Cal Raleigh to little Leo Rivas was swinging through the heater.

Kirby’s dominance game to an end in the sixth inning, which he started with an uncharacteristic leadoff walk. After getting that fraud Aaron Judge — who probably doesn’t even own a robe — to pop out, he struck out Cody Bellinger and seemed poised to hang another zero on the scoreboard. But he couldn’t get his changeup up in the zone against Ben Rice and issued another free pass. And then he grooved a middle-middle heater to Paul Goldschmidt. Oh no.

In an instant, a very winnable 1-run ballgame became an almost-out-of-reach 4-run ballgame. Drat. The Mariners were a grand slam behind the Yanks. Surely there is no coming back from that.

The Mariners brought in Jose Ferrer and Cooper Criswell to relieve George, and they got through the 7th and 8th innings without allowing a run. In the bottom of the eighth, Dominic Canzone and Cole Young hit back to back 1-out singles to put runners on the corners. Leo Rivas struck out reaching for an awful pitch that bounced on home plate for the second out in the inning. Brendan Donovan then took the easiest 4-pitch walk of his life to load the bases. That brought up the number two hitter. Who was that again? Oh right.

Cal Raleigh stood in the batter’s box with three men on and two outs in the inning. The moment was perfect for the 2025 home run champ to get his first of 2026. The city of Seattle held its breath. On a 2-1 count, Yankees reliever Dave Bednar tried to bury a splitter below the zone. But he missed up, a dangerous thing to do against a hitter who loves to send low and away breaking pitches to the moon. Cal swung and made contact with his signature one-handed follow through.

And hit a 2-run single. Not a grand slam, but runs are runs and the M’s were finally on the board. Things were looking up. Right up until Julio struck out on a splitter right down the middle. Oh you thought the M’s had a chance? April Fools!

To add insult to injury the Yanks got a run back in the ninth off of a leadoff home run by Ben Rice. That left the M’s with a 3 run deficit heading into the bottom of the ninth inning. Much work to be done. And some of it was! With two outs, Dominic Canzone scored Randy Arozarena from second and advanced to scoring position himself on defensive indifference. That brought up Cole Young to decide the game. Cole fought and scratched and clawed for his life and ground out a nerve-racking 10-pitch at bat. Finally, he got a fastball down the middle and sent it on a good ride towards right field… it flew high up into the roof-covered sky… and settled into Aaron Judge’s glove just in front of the warning track. April Fools!

To play the maybe game for a moment, maybe in August, when its a little warmer and Cole’s a little stronger, that ball gets over the wall. Maybe Cal hits a slam instead of a single. Maybe a lot of things. But here’s a fact. The season is still so, so, so young. There are still 155 games remaining. Last year the Mariners got off to an equally mediocre start and the won the division, in case you forgot. So here’s my fact: you’d be a fool to count them out now.

PHOENIX — Ok, maybe the entire town of Kingman, Arizona, wasn’t on hand Wednesday afternoon to see their hometown hero, but that lower section down right field, toward the concourse at Chase Field, certainly made their presence known loud and clear.

They watched their famous Kingman native mow down the Arizona Diamondbacks, but only this time, the two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal didn’t get his Detroit Tigers teammates to cooperate.

Skubal, despite giving up just one run and six hits in seven dominant innings, lost 1-0 to the Diamondbacks. It was the first time he lost a 1-0 game since May 31 last season against the Kansas City Royals when he also gave up one run in seven innings.

Skubal gave up a home run to Corbin Carroll on his ninth pitch of the game, and allowed only one runner to reach second base after the third inning on shortstop Javier Baez’s error. He threw 60 of his 87 pitches for strikes, but took no solace in his latest dominant performance, with the Tigers having scored in just four of their last 49 innings.

“Obviously, it doesn’t really matter,’’ said Skubal, 1-1 with a 0.69 ERA, vying to join Hall of Famers Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson to win three consecutive Cy Young awards. “We lost. The goal of every game that I’m pitching, I want to win. It doesn’t really matter how it happens.

“Individually, fine, but it’s a team game. And we need to win. So it doesn’t really matter how I felt because it comes in a loss.’’

The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers should be one of the more intriguing stops in the system this season. Not necessarily because they’re built to dominate the Carolina League, but because of what they represent. This is what the early stages of a rebuild actually look like.

A roster packed with teenagers, recent draftees, and projection players isn’t going to overwhelm anyone out of the gate. But if things go right, Kannapolis could be where the foundation quietly starts to take shape. It will be less about wins and losses, and more about whether the organization can build anything resembling a functional pipeline again.

The Ballers will have a fresh face guiding that process in Jayson Nix, who takes over for Chad Pinder after Pinder’s rapid ascent to Triple-A Charlotte. Nix brings a blend of big-league and recent coaching experience, having spent time on the Los Angeles Angels’ staff under Ron Washington.

For a roster this young, that experience matters. Development here isn’t just mechanical; it’s about teaching players how to handle failure, adjust, and survive a grind they’ve never experienced before.

Last year’s 64–68 finish certainly doesn’t jump off the page, but the way Kannapolis got there does. They hovered around .500 most of the season before catching fire late, winning 11 of their final 14 games and at least making things interesting down the stretch.

More importantly, the Ballers did what they were supposed to do: develop players. Names like Braden Montgomery and Caleb Bonemer moved up the ranks, and that’s the real currency at this level.

This season, three of Chicago’s top-30 prospects (per MLB Pipeline) are set to open 2026 in Kannapolis. Let’s break down that trio, along with a few other names worth keeping tabs on.

The kids are (very) young

This year’s position-player group leans heavily into projection, which is supposed to be a theme across the White Sox system under GM Chris Getz.

Billy Carlson (MLB No. 70, White Sox No. 5)

Carlson is a good place to start. The righty hitter brings a clean swing, but the real story is the glove. With elite defensive grades already, Carlson looks like he could stick on the left side of the infield long-term, and the arm strength backs it up in a big way. If the bat comes through even a little, that’s something.

Jaden Fauske (White Sox No. 7)

Fauske offers a different flavor. A lefty bat with line-drive tendencies and real speed, he’s the type of player who can impact the game without needing to leave the yard. The power may come later, but for now, it’s about getting on base, creating chaos, and covering serious ground in the outfield.

Javier Mogollón (White Sox No. 13)

Then there’s Mogollón, who enters something of a prove-it year. His first full season in 2025 was, to put it bluntly, rough. There were small wins, namely improved plate discipline, but much of his offensive profile took a step back. At 20, there’s still time, but this is where adjustments need to start turning into results.

Other names like Marcelo Alcala, Rylan Galvan, and Stiven Flores round out a group that’s long on tools and short on certainty, which is kind of the point in Low-A.

Arms to watch

On the pitching side, the Ballers won’t overpower opponents, but there’s a bit of intrigue.

Riley Eikhoff

Eikhoff fits the “could be more than the sum of his parts” mold. A compact righty with a knack for generating ground balls, he’s the type who could quietly carve out a role if things click.

Blaine Wynk

Wynk might be the biggest wild card. An eighth-round pick with a fastball that can reach 97 mph, his development hinges on health after a shoulder issue limited his college time. If he’s right, there’s real upside here, and maybe he ends up as a draft-day steal for the Sox.

Daniel Wright

Wright is hard to miss at 6´9´´. His fastball/cutter mix gives him a chance to stick as bullpen depth, even if the track record is more “solid” than “spectacular.” In a system that needs arms, that alone makes him worth watching.

So, no, this team probably isn’t built to run away with anything. But if a few bats pop, a couple of arms stabilize, and the product looks sharper by August, that’s a win. Because in a rebuild like this, Kannapolis isn’t about the standings. It’s about whether anything here looks and feels real.

The Ballers open the season at home on April 2 against the Hill City Howlers (Cleveland’s Low-A affiliate), kicking off what should be a telling first look at this next wave of Chicago’s youngsters.

The Dodgers didn’t take on-field batting practice as a team on Wednesday afternoon.

But, in an exceedingly rare occurrence, superstar slugger Shohei Ohtani did.

A rare sighting today: Shohei Ohtani is taking pregame batting practice out on the field

He mentioned last night that he wasn’t getting the results he wanted on hittable pitches, and that the feel of his swing was “a little off” pic.twitter.com/QxFjBkkvL0

— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) April 1, 2026

Since joining the Dodgers, Ohtani has rarely hit on the field before games. The few times it has happened, it’s usually a sign he is looking for something in his swing.

That appeared to be the case Wednesday, with Ohtani saying the night before his swing felt “a little off” following a 3-for-15 start to his season.

“When I swing at hittable pitches,” he said in Japanese, “I’m not getting the results I want most.”

Case in point: He has yet to hit a home run, or even record an extra-base hit –– with opposing pitchers instead approaching him carefully in an opening week that has seen him draw six walks (tied for most in the National League entering the day).

“I do like the way he’s being selective and taking walks when they’re given,” manager Dave Roberts said.

“There hasn’t been a whole lot of hard contact because I do think they’re just not making a whole lot of mistakes with him. That will come. I think, for me, I would just preach just patience and trust that the guys behind him will figure some things out.” 

However, Ohtani seemed to be tinkering nonetheless.

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In his first round in the cage, he appeared to be swinging at less than full intensity, yet was hitting bombs halfway up the right-field pavilion anyway.

After that, he launched a string of high-arcing fly balls to center and right field. As he walked back to the dugout afterward, he continued practicing his hitting motion with his bat in his left hand.

Guardians players watching Shohei Ohtani taking batting practice on the field: pic.twitter.com/gOjiZAnYkv

— Dylan Hernández (@dylanohernandez) April 1, 2026

Despite his lack of power, Ohtani has reached safely in every game this season. Going back to last year, that has given him a 36-game on-base streak; the longest current run in the majors, and one that has tied his MLB career high.

Wednesday’s game will be important for Ohtani for another, too.

Last year, he hit just .147 on the days after he pitched. Wednesday will his first such game this year, giving him another chance to show his return to full-time pitching won’t impact his hitting.

On Tuesday night, he passed his first test by reaching base three times during his scoreless six-inning start.

The Dodgers play the final game of the first homestand of the 2026 season with their ace on the mound, Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

Wednesday Game Info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Guardians
• Stadium: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 5:20 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out-of-market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 (Spanish)

The Dodgers’ first road game of the 2026 season comes in the nation’s capital, battling the Washington Nationals on Friday afternoon at Nationals Park. It’s the home opener for the Nats, with a daytime start to open the weekend series.

Emmet Sheehan starts the series opener on Friday, looking to rebound from his first start of the season, during which he allowed four runs in 3 1/3 innings last Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Nationals
• Ballpark: Nationals Park, Washington D.C.
• Time: 10:05 a.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Here is the Guardians’ lineup:

Here is the Dodgers’ lineup:

Let’s go, Guardians!

LOS ANGELES — Wednesday was a busy day for the Dodgers adding pitching depth to the 40-man roster. First came trading for left-hander Jake Eder, then in the afternoon the team claimed right-hander Grant Holman off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Holman pitched parts of the last two seasons in the majors with the Athletics, totaling a 4.66 ERA and 4.42 xERA in 40 games, with 33 strikeouts and 18 walks in 38 2/3 innings. He missed the final three and a half months of last season with rotator cuff tendinitis in his right shoulder.

The former sixth-round pick from 2021 in February was claimed off waivers from the A’s by the Diamondbacks in February. Arizona designated Holman for assignment last Wednesday in finalizing their opening day roster.

Holman, who turns 26 on May 31, has one year, 31 days of major league service time. He has two minor league option years remaining, having used an option year in 2025.

To make room on the 40-man roster for Holman, pitcher Gavin Stone was transferred to the 60-day injured list. It doesn’t change much regarding the timeline for Stone, who is pain-free in his right shoulder and just resumed throwing at Camelback Ranch in Arizona this week after getting shut down in spring training.

“I would say he’s pre-spring training, or right at the beginning,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Stone on Monday, meaning Stone still has to go through the usual spring progression and eventual building up of innings en route back to the majors, after missing all of 2025 after shoulder surgery.

Adding Stone to the 60-day injured list means he cannot return to the Dodgers before May 21.

Mental lapses during a game can happen in the early season, but it's rare when it happens to a veteran whose known for his sound play.

That's what happened to Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor on Wednesday. In an afternoon bereft of offense and timely hitting, Lindor's mental lapses stood out. 

In the first, Lindor handled a groundball that was perfect to turn an inning-ending double play. However, Lindor calmly jogged to second base for the out and turned to the dugout. Lindor forgot how many outs there were, pushing starter Freddy Peralta to throw five more pitches.

"The groundball is the one that’s no excuses," manager Carlos Mendoza said of the mistake. "He’ll be the first one that tells you that."

And Lindor did, telling the media after the 2-1 extra-innings loss that he simply forgot how many outs there were.

"I made a mistake that probably cost Peralta to go an extra inning because he had to throw more pitches after that," Lindor said. "Inexcusable. He probably could have gone six, maybe seven. I just forgot the outs."

The mistake didn't cost the Mets any runs. Peralta finished the inning, striking out the next batter en route to throwing 92 pitches across 5.1 innings. The ace of the Mets staff allowed just one run, but it wasn't enough as the Mets offense pushed across just one run, but it potentially could have been more.

In the sixth, and the game scoreless, Lindor reached on an error with one out. With Juan Soto at the plate, Lindor was picked off without even a slide from the Mets shortstop. 

Soto would homer three pitches later to give the Mets the lead. Unfortunately, it would not hold up as the Cardinals tied it in the bottom half of the inning and eventually won in the 11th.

"The pickoff, they got us there. [Lindor] was going to go, we thought we had a tip there and they got us with a quick, step-off move there," Mendoza said. "I wouldn’t consider that one as a mental mistake. He was trying to get some momentum there and be aggressive."

"I should have been better," Lindor said of the play. "That’s all I got."

If the Mets win on Wednesday, the mistakes are glossed over, but the loss puts a magnifying glass over a team that has struggled offensively. After scoring 11 runs in their Opening Day win against the Pirates, the Mets have pushed across just 12 runs over their next five games. On Wednesday, the Mets were 0-for-11 with RISP and left 11 runners on base.

Lindor is not too concerned with the offense's early-season struggles. The Mets (3-3) still have 156 games to go in the season.

"Our pitchers have done a tremendous job. We gotta score runs for them," Lindor said. "It’s one of those that you hope to put it together as many times as you can during the year. We have put it together, just not every day. Gotta go out there, continue to believe in each other, pass the baton. I trust the guy behind me more than I trust myself. It’s that type of mentality. We’re going to be on top more times than not."

The Mets will hope to turn their struggles around when they open a four-game series against the Giants in San Francisco starting Thursday. 

HOUSTON, TX – Once upon a time, he was the de facto leader of Crush City. Today, Captain Crush was back.

Carlos Correa, who has been open about his excitement of being back in Houston for a whole season and the high expectations he has for this team, hit a 3-run homer in the fifth to put the Astros ahead for good as Houston completed a 3-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox today at Daikin Park.

Correa demolished a 1-2 slider from Red Sox All-Star starter Garrett Crochet (L, 1-1) 402 feet and into the Crawfish Boxes to give the Astros a 5-2 lead.

Correa’s shot left like a laser at 106.7 MPH. Correa is hitting .296 through 7 games with an .811 OPS. The HR gave the Astros a lead they would never relinquish on the way to a 6-4 victory.

Correa spoke with SCHN’s Julia Morales postgame:

Correa’s bomb made a winner of starter Mike Burrows, whose second start was notably better than his first. Burrows threw 5 innings of 2 run ball, allowing 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6. Burrows improved to 1-1 on the season.

The Astros also got run producing contributions from Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker, as well as a solo HR from catcher Christian Vazquez:

Relievers A.J. Blubaugh and Bryan King each pitched clean innings for the Astros in the 6th and 7th innings. Blubaugh registered a strikeout and King had a pair of Ks.

Bryan Abreu came on for the 9th in a save situation at 6-3. He surrendered a solo home run to the Red Sox’ leadoff man in the 9th, Roman Anthony, but then settled down and struck out the next 3 batters for his first save of the season.

More importantly, Abreu was back throwing his fastball in his more customary 96-97 MPH range.

With the victory, the Astros improved to 5-2 on the season, and lead the AL West by a half-game over the Texas Rangers.

They will have an off day Thursday and then open a 3-game series Friday in Sacramento against the Athletics. Cristian Javier will get the start Friday against Jeffrey Springs.

Attention, operator: There seems to be a connection problem.

Something wasn’t working between first and third base Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park, as the typically surehanded Matt Chapman and Casey Schmitt teamed up to cost the Giants the first two runs they allowed in 7-1 drubbing to the Padres.

Schmitt was charged with an error for failing to reel in a wide throw from Chapman in the first inning that ricocheted into the outfield, allowing Jackson Merrill to race home from first and open a 1-0 lead.

Chapman took the blame for a throw that sailed over Schmitt’s mitt and into foul territory on a play that should have ended the fifth inning. Instead, Gavin Sheets scored from second to make it 2-0.

Adrian Houser pitched better than the defense behind him in the season debut for the Giants’ No. 5 starter but ran into trouble when San Diego turned its lineup over for a third time. Just one of the three runs on Houser’s line was earned, but three of the Padres’ seven hits against him came in consecutive at-bats after he recorded the first out of the sixth, bringing manager Tony Vitello out with the hook.

The Padres’ ace, Nick Pivetta, rebounded from his stinker to open the season and put San Francisco’s bats back in hibernation. After more than doubling their season totals with nine runs on 16 hits to clinch a series win Tuesday, the Giants mustered just four hits while striking out a season-high 14 times.

What it means

Despite the getaway day defeat, Vitello’s first games in the road grays have to be considered a success. The first-year manager won’t be celebrating a sweep on the short charter flight back to San Francisco, but his team rebounded nicely from an 0-3 opening series by taking two of three in San Diego.

Who’s hot

Willy Adames had been on a tear since moving into the leadoff spot, but the Giants shortstop was held hitless to snap a brief three-game hitting streak. The 0-for-4 effort came in SF’s first loss in four games with Adames batting leadoff, dating back to Game 162 of last season.

Luis Arraez was responsible for three of the Giants’ four hits, including their only one in five innings off Pivetta. Arraez gave them a second with a double off Adrian Morejon to begin the seventh, and Harrison Bader got them on the board with a two-out line drive into left field for their third hit of the afternoon.

The multi-hit effort from Arraez against his former team left him batting .304 after six games, the best mark among the Giants’ starting lineup that has featured the same nine players in all of their first six games.

Who’s not

The description could fit anybody in a starting lineup that doesn’t feature one player with an OPS that starts with a seven or higher. For the fourth time in their first six games, the Giants were held to one run or less and three or fewer hits. Even with their nine-run outburst on Tuesday, the Giants are averaging just 2.3 per game, the fewest in the majors, with a .559 team OPS — better only than the A’s.

Besides the bats, Jose Butto hasn’t looked like the same pitcher who tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings for Venezuela during the World Baseball Classic. Butto is suddenly the biggest question mark in the Giants’ bullpen after retiring only one of the seven batters he faced in his second shaky outing in three games.

Butto issued four walks, allowed three hits and found the strike zone on only eight of his 28 pitches, forcing Vitello to burn another arm, lefty Ryan Borucki, with seven more games in the next seven days.

The Padres extended their lead from 3-1 to the eventual final margin after Butto entered the game.

Up next

Robbie Ray makes his second start of the season Thursday as the Giants return to Oracle Park to begin a seven-game home stand against the Mets and Phillies. Tyler Mahle gets the ball Friday, followed by Landen Roupp and Logan Webb to finish off a four-game weekend set with New York.

SEATTLE — It is not always going to be like this.

A Yankees starter is going to give up multiple runs — maybe even three — someday.

But not now, not yet — and most of the time, not even one.

Cam Schlittler was masterful once again, throwing 6 ¹/₃ shutout innings on the way to a 5-3 win over the Mariners to claim the series at T-Mobile Park while continuing the Yankees run of pitching dominance to begin the season.

Schlittler, who retired the final 15 batters he faced and would have gone even deeper had he not been on a pitch count, recorded the fourth scoreless start by a Yankee in the team’s first six games — two by him and two by Max Fried.

Yankees starters have still only given up just two runs over their first six games — spanning 33 ²/₃ innings — marking the fewest by any team’s starting rotation through their first six games of a season since 1900.

“I think the staff’s dominant and the bullpen’s been great as well,” said Schlittler, who struck out seven and scattered just two hits. “The team as a whole, just feeding off each other and taking it each game, each start and keep rolling with it.”


The bullpen, which has mostly been strong in its own right early, threatened to light the game on fire late after the Yankees led 4-0, fueled by Paul Goldschmidt’s three-run shot.

Camilo Doval loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth inning before Cal Raleigh roped a two-run single off David Bednar to make it 4-2.

After Bednar struck out Julio Rodríguez to end the threat, Ben Rice got a run back in the top of the ninth on his first home run of the season, which provided a bit more breathing room for when the Mariners fought back again in the bottom of the ninth, pushing across another run. But Bednar finally nailed down the final out on his 40th pitch, sending the Yankees flying home high following a 5-1 West Coast trip ahead of Friday’s home opener.

“Really good baseball,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Obviously pitching at a really high level. The defense was excellent on the trip overall. Some timely hitting, a couple big homers along the way. Just really good baseball and a good way to open the season and head back home into an off day and hopefully start off a nice homestand.”


Across 79 pitches Wednesday — still building up after back inflammation had slowed him briefly in camp — Schlittler continued to pound the zone and attack with his three fastballs. He has still not walked a batter this season, only letting three runners on base at all across 11 ²/₃ scoreless innings.

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The 25-year-old became the first pitcher in Yankees history to begin a season with back-to-back starts of five-plus scoreless innings and seven-plus strikeouts.

“He’s not afraid to throw his best stuff and come at you in the zone,” said Rice, who capped off a strong series by going 2-for-3 with a walk, RBI double and the 427-foot homer. “Clearly he is very difficult to hit.”

It is still early, but this kind of start has allowed the Yankees to dream on the high-end potential of their rotation over the full season, especially with Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole expected to join it before long.

“What a week of pitching,” Boone said. “Credit to those guys for, along with [Austin Wells] and J.C. [Escarra] and the pitching group, coming up with a really good game plan and those starting pitchers going out there and executing at a really high level.”

Goldschmidt, who was only in the lineup because the Yankees wanted to give the red-hot Giancarlo Stanton a proactive day off to keep him healthy over the long haul, delivered the biggest swing in the sixth inning. The veteran first baseman crushed a three-run shot off right-hander George Kirby to put the Yankees ahead 4-0 — set up by Trent Grisham and Rice each drawing a walk — creating some cushion for Schlittler and Co.

“Being efficient, limiting the walks, limiting the hits and getting the strikeouts,” Schlittler said, “is a good way to put the team in a position to win.”

Last week, the WNBA established a historic seven-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that will run through 2032, paving the way for astronomical league growth. In what will be marked as one of the biggest breakthroughs in women’s professional sports, the WNBA has proven that league growth, competitive parity and expansion are not mutually exclusive.

MLB, on the other hand, is at a pivotal intersection of balancing competitive parity and league growth. The league is staring down an almost guaranteed lose-lose scenario with the current CBA expiring at the end of this year, and salary floors and potential ceilings are nowhere near agreed upon. If the league and team owners want to preserve as much of the 2027 season as possible, they may want to borrow one distinct element from the WNBA’s CBA: scaled player compensation.

In their recently-ratified CBA, the WNBA raised its salary floors and caps to acknowledge the league’s massive boom in the last five years.

Maximum player salaries may grow to up to $2.4 million, based on financial projections. WNBA players are also guaranteed at least 20% of the league’s gross revenue, replacing the previous revenue-sharing model that required league revenue to exceed a specific threshold before players saw any returns.

The increased player compensation corrects previous underpayments and sets a scalable economic system for future growth and league establishment, tying player salaries directly to league performance. 

MLB’s economic structure differs greatly, as revenue doesn’t automatically scale with league engagement.

For starters, player salaries aren’t tied directly to revenue. Salaries increase through free market competition, with team revenue growth and superstars serving as the main drivers for market rates in free agency and arbitration. MLB players have traditionally made as much as teams wanted to pay them. Mechanisms for limiting salary during a player’s initial six years of team control also cut into potential player profits. Long story short, front offices have a heavy hand in balancing salaries with revenue. 

In turn, revenue sharing isn’t guaranteed for MLB players. Profits from revenue sharing from local markets are distributed to teams, not players. Players are at the mercy of owners to reap what they sow. Adjustments to the revenue-sharing model would likely require players to concede to a salary cap.

The dramatic contrasts between a league intentionally designed to scale with anticipated growth and a league having to backtrack and update its structures to preserve its fan base result in severe economic disparity. Using ESPN’s table of WNBA salaries by CBA year and Spotrac’s minimum and highest AAV MLB salaries by CBA year, I recorded salary changes in each league from 2015 to 2026. The results were astonishing.

The lowest-paid WNBA players will make at least 20% of the salary earned by the highest-paid players, while the lowest-paid MLB players make less than 2% of the salary earned by the highest-paid ballplayers. The millions, that’s right, millions of dollars of pay gap is the crux of the problem. Since international market growth, historic media deals, shifts toward direct-to-consumer streaming, and increases in fan attendance have made MLB an $11.1 billion industry, grave salary disparities among MLB players are unjustifiable. 

If MLB decides to directly tie salaries to league revenue in the next CBA, it could transform the game for the future. Tightening the pay gap between rookies and stars would incentivize winning and stellar performance. Rewarding players for their contributions on the field through direct revenue sharing or salary scaling would introduce invisible pay structures that preserve the traditional free market economic system without letting the rich get richer at the expense of the prospects and young talent that serve as the foundation for baseball’s development.