Category: MLB

For the most part this season, I’ve left the monologues out of the beginning of my Minor Lines because the performance of the farm seemed pretty separate from the uninspired performance of the Boston Red Sox. But, this recent plethora of changes directly influences the farm even though the result of the games themselves are inconsequential, so here’s my unsolicited two cents.

While I think the Alex Cora firing is one of many partial solutions that don’t ultimately solve the underlying problem — the real solution being the one that rhymes with “fell the beam”— I do think that when so much of the team isn’t performing at once (even pieces of the puzzle that weren’t just tentatively jammed in) one of the things you have to look at coaching. Breslow, who’s now certainly on a shorter leash than he was two months ago, could not depart before Cora; the CBO position would be unfillable. Sure, it’s all indicative of a bigger problem of a vicious cycle of executives with their hands tied, forbidden from them spending sufficiently to improve the team, but it was time for Alex Cora.

Alex Cora recently gave a quote, perhaps taken out of context, to Ken Rosenthal on the hurried development of homegrown talent. But when 80% of the most exciting guys on the roster are homegrown talent, the context speaks for itself. You look at the backgrounds of the guys who are now on the Major League coaching staff, and the promotions make sense. Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Brayan Bello, Triston Casas, Payton Tolle, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Connelly Early (who had a longer leash Sunday then he had ever gotten with the previous coaching staff) and several more have already worked with Chad Tracy. In an environment where some of the roster is sloppily pieced together, this is an ideal guy to have in the clubhouse at the present moment. Chad Epperson coming up from Portland to be the third base coach is also a good thing for similar reasons.

Tracy winning his first game game isn’t indicative of this being a positive move. He’ll lose games too. But the way the previous manager interacted with younger talent clashed with how Craig Breslow, who remains on the Boston Red Sox payroll as of this moment, operated. More importantly, it interfered with the front office’s goal to make payroll as small as possible while fielding a team that doesn’t completely suck and lead to “sell the team” chants in April. Thus, the team is looking to Chad Tracy to be a “stabilizing” voice within the clubhouse, with the word “stabilizing” doing a lot of heavy lifting. Hopefully, the players lift, too.

Now, there was some action on the farm on Sunday, too, so let’s get into it.

Worcester: W, 6-2 (BOX SCORE)

To say “no Chad Tracy, no problem” may be oversimplifying things, but interim coach Iggy Suarez, a 2003 Red Sox draft pick who was, at one time, a member of the Triple-A Red Sox club (then in Pawtucket), capped off what I’m sure was an exhilarating Sunday by watching his team simply outplay the Syracuse Mets. Jack Anderson looked awesome through four innings. Eduardo Rivera struck out six in his three innings. These are guys who have both made their Major League debuts in recent weeks, and this was because of minor league appearances overseen by… well, I don’t want to beat the dead horse here. Speaking of guys with some time in Boston, Nate Eaton got in on the action, too, hitting a three-run shot to open the scoring up, and the WooSox held the lead for the rest of the afternoon.

Portland: W, 3-2 (BOX SCORE)

You might think that this was a close game from the score alone, and it was, due to a lack of offense. But the result of Kyle Sasala’s first game as Sea Dogs manager against the Yard Goats (Rockies AA) was actually a rarity. One day after Franklin Arias hit another home run in a pinch-hit walk-off situation, the Sea Dogs pitched a no-hitter. This is the team’s second in two years, and it was led by 25-year-old lefty Hayden Mullins, who’s had a really good season thus far, followed by relief innings by Caleb Bolden and Reidis Sena. This was actually Sena’s first appearance after being promoted from Greenville. Hartford’s runs, from runners who reached on walks, were scored off of a botched ground ball from first baseman Ronald Rosario, who normally plays catcher. Nate Baez’s home run was the sole reason this no-hitter didn’t go down as a loss until Rosario hit his redemption arc with a go-ahead RBI single. Portland is now 6-0 in one-run games in 2026.

Greenville: W, 10-7 (F/1o) (BOX SCORE)

The Drive had to rally to take this one in extras from Asheville (Astros High-A) as they entered the eighth inning down 7-3. This was no fault of starting pitching, which was solid organization-wide Sunday. But, again, Marcus Phillips couldn’t get an otherwise effective start past the fourth. But, not to worry, as the clutch trait was unlocked by the offense instead, as Justin Gonzales’ two-out grand slam to tie it up at 7 raised the Drive’s expected winning percentage from six percent all the way up to 42 percent. They’d then score three points in the tenth and Harry Blum, who was on the mound in the eighth, would pitch his third scoreless inning to slam the door.

Salem: : L, 0-7 (BOX SCORE)

After a hot start, Salem is now 4-10 in their last 14 and losers of three straight as they slide below .500. They were shut out, held to just three hits by the Fredricksburg (Nationals A), two of which came from shortstop Anderson Fermin, and stranded eleven including seven RidgeYaks that reached due to walks.

Have an investigative Monday.

The Cubs had a 5-2 week, which on its face is excellent.

The way it ended, with two losses to the Dodgers after sweeping the Phillies and mounting a stirring comeback Friday in Los Angeles, wasn’t great. But this team is still showing that it can compete with anyone, even with multiple bullpen injuries.

Here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over the past week.

Three up

Seiya Suzuki is red-hot

It took a while for Suzuki to start hitting, which isn’t surprising as he missed most of Spring Training with an injury suffered in the World Baseball Classic.

Despite going 0-for-4 in Sunday’s loss, Suzuki batted .400/.483/.880 (10-for-25) over the week with four home runs, three walks and six RBI. He’s got a chance to be named NL Player of the Week later today.

In addition to his good hitting week, Suzuki also made several nice defensive plays, including two sliding grabs on Sunday. Here’s the first of those [VIDEO].

Moisés Ballesteros is a hitting machine

Craig Counsell is still protecting Ballesteros from facing left-handed pitching, for the most part, as he’s just 1-for-4 with a walk vs. LHP this year.

Overall, though, he is crushing baseballs no matter which right-hander he faces. For the week, Ballesteros batted .500/.588/1.000 (7-for-14) with four doubles, a home run and three walks.

Eventually, I suppose, the league will adjust to him. Then it will be up to Ballesteros to adjust back. I’m pretty sure he will.

Here’s the home run he hit in Los Angeles on Saturday [VIDEO].

Michael Busch finally started to hit

After being in a slump for the season’s first three-plus weeks, Busch broke out with a 333/.394/.600 week (10-for-30) against the Phillies and Dodgers, with two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI.

Here’s his three-run shot against the Phillies on Thursday [VIDEO].

You knew a guy who hit 34 home runs last year couldn’t be held down too long, so hopefully this is a sign of better things to come for Busch.

H/T to Nico Hoerner and Pete Crow-Armstrong for playing strong defense all week.

Three down

Colin Rea got hit hard by the Dodgers

Rea had been really solid all year, no matter what role he was asked to perform, but the Dodgers hit him really hard — six hits, four walks and six runs over just 3.1 innings.

Hopefully, that’s just a glitch. Rea has been really good for the Cubs over the last year-plus. Assuming the rotation stays in order, his next start will be Friday at Wrigley Field against the Diamondbacks. Small sample size, but Rea has been better at home (2.79 ERA, 9.2 innings) than on the road (5.60 ERA, 17.2 innings). He was also somewhat better at Wrigley last year. Hopefully the home field will be friendly to him on Friday.

Javier Assad also had a rough time in L.A.

Assad also has a pronounced home/road split this year, again in a very small sample size, but that 10.95 ERA in 12.1 road innings is pretty ugly, and it includes six walks. He’s walked no one in 6.2 innings at Wrigley this year. Maybe try the glasses again, Javier?

The bullpen injuries are mounting

It’s getting difficult to even know who’s in the Cubs bullpen on a daily basis. Right now, only three relievers who were in the pen on Opening Day are still there — Ben Brown, Hoby Milner and Jacob Webb. (Colin Rea, who was in the Opening Day bullpen, is now in the rotation.)

Hunter Harvey, Riley Martin, Phil Maton, Daniel Palencia, Ethan Roberts and Caleb Thielbar, all guys who have contributed this year, remain on the IL, along with Jordan Wicks, who is currently on rehab assignment. Roberts’ injury was a laceration, not anything with an elbow or shoulder, and he could be back soon. Maton could be activated as soon as today. And there’s potential good news about Palencia:

So, perhaps a rehab assignment for Palencia could follow.

And even with all the injuries, the Cubs reeled off 10 straight wins. Impressive.

Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma took the weekly slate with a series score of 4-2, securing a heroic comeback in the final game of the six game series to secure an extra-innings W. The bats, once icy cold, have emerged from their hibernation and are looking far more like we’ve come to expect. It wouldn’t be a major shock to see some promotions in the coming month, particularly from the heart of this Tacoma lineup.

Brennen Davis has arrived. After a slower start to the season, Davis is back to pulverizing baseballs and has raised his OPS all the way up to .915, firmly leading the way in this Rainiers lineup. The righty corner-outfielder is an easy fit for the big league roster as currently constructed, and though he carries legitimate injury risk with him, his ability has never been in question. He’s graced top 100 prospect lists in years past, only removed due to the significant time he spent on the IL. Health permitting, it’s not “if”, it’s “when” he makes his big league debut with the Mariners. 

Scheduled Colt Emerson check-in: After missing a few games this week with a wrist injury, Emerson is back healthy and producing in all facets of the game. Reaching base six times across three games, Emerson yet again went oppo for his third homer of the year and looks comfortable doing damage to the opposite field. Very professional AB’s, superb defense, etc., etc. It’s been textbook Colt Emerson all around.

Arkansas Travelers

The Travs have finally started to get things moving in the right direction, capping a convincing 5-1 series victory with an extra-innings win on Sunday afternoon. The offense, while not overwhelming, has been showing signs of life as of late, and with as dominant as their pitching staff has been through the first month of the season, expect the Travelers to be in the win column more often than not.

It’s official: Kade Anderson is appointment television. Working another 4.2 scoreless innings on Friday night, the only things thwarting his excellence was a rain delay that ended his night early. Regardless of weather, Anderson racked up eight more punchouts with zero walks, lowering his season ERA to 0.48 through four starts. He’s striking out the world, walking nobody, and running a ~58% GB rate, essentially checking every single box possible as a starting pitcher bidding for a big league debut. Whether he ascends to the majors this year or not seems like it will largely be out of his hands, but he’s yet to show a hole in his repertoire and looks every bit of a top minor league arm. Should the opportunity present itself, he’ll be ready.

Ryan Sloan had his best start in Double-A this weekend, hurling 4.2 innings of two run ball, his only wart being a two run homer he surrendered in his third inning of work. Punching seven tickets and walking two, Sloan looked much more like himself on the mound, dotting up the edges of the plate and drawing a healthy amount of swing and miss. Hopefully the young 20 year old can take this start and build on it, ideally beginning a string of quality outings to put under his belt and prove he’s adjusting to Double-A successfully.

Welcome back, Ty Cummings! The return in the recent Casey Legumina trade, Cummings was drafted by the Mariners in 2023 but was shipped off as a PTBNL in the Randy Arozarena deal. Now making his return, Cummings joins an already strong Travelers staff that’s held this team together.

Everett AquaSox

Locking down a 4-2 series victory against Spokane this week, Everett’s lineup is really starting to take shape. The bats they absolutely have to have producing are finally looking like their typical selves, and even though the starting pitching has been rough thus far, they’ve got enough interesting bullpen arms to piece together something on the back end. This roster’s a super fun watch that should produce several big leaguers when it’s all said and done.

Hello, Felnin Celesten! After a cold start to the season, Celesten is on a bit of a heater at the plate as of late, reaching base 12 times in five games and striking out just twice. He’s starting to find some holes and is coming into his own in the power department, now getting to some extra-base thump that wasn’t happening early in the year. The switch-hitter still has a silky smooth glove on the dirt and a sky high ceiling if he can put it all together, but proving it has been rocky thus far. Hopefully this stretch is a sign of what’s to come for the uber-talented shortstop.

Luke Stevenson continues to be a revelation at the plate, refusing to give the opposing pitcher free strikes with chase off the plate. He’s walking as much as he’s punching out and is displaying supreme patience at the plate, consistently seeing a ton of pitches and forcing the pitcher into long at bats. Now with an OBP at .485, Stevenson seems like a strong candidate for a promotion to Double-A sometime this summer.

Axel Sanchez has had an up-and-down career in the minors, but he’s off to a torrid start to the 2026 season. Rocking an OPS north of 1.000, Sanchez deserves a ton of credit for being a run-producing force in this lineup. Somehow already in his fourth season (!!!) in Everett, the results need to be taken with a grain of salt, but the production has been a major key for this lineup regardless of any caveats attached to it.

Inland Empire 66ers

The 66ers split this week’s series with the Ports, unable to push for a victory despite some excellent starting pitching performances. This team has some incredibly compelling performers from game to game, but as a whole, the fringes of the roster have proven to be fallible thus far. The strength of the Arkansas and Everett squads had to come from somewhere, and unfortunately for the newest affiliate of the organization, the 66ers paid the price.

Jackson Steensma continues to vie for the title of “staff ace” for this 66ers ball club. Last year’s ninth rounder, the physical right hander worked another four innings of one run ball, striking out seven along the way and raising his season total to 17 through ten innings. Generating 18 whiffs across those four innings, Steensma had his entire arsenal working flawlessly on Sunday afternoon, dominating with fastballs above the top rail and sliders down and away. He’s got just one walk all year, moves well down the mound, and brings the physical frame of a prototypical starter. He checks a ton of boxes and looks like an incredibly interesting late round arm that’s worth monitoring.

After a down week last week, Korbyn Dickerson returned to form and helped carry a lackluster lineup all week. Recording at least one knock in all six games, Dickerson has cut back on the K’s and is walking at an exceptional rate, a promising sign that bodes well for his future success against better competition. He’s knocking the ball around the ballpark, swiping bases, and locking down centerfield, effectively accomplishing everything you could ask out of a player in his first full season of professional baseball. His tools alone make him a fascinating prospect to follow; if this level of production continues, don’t be shocked to see his prospect pedigree ascend a tier or two by midseason.

Ricardo Cova continues to be an optimal table setter atop this lineup. The undersized infielder has great bat-to-ball skills and is showing some better power this season, a major facet of his game that’s been missing to this point. Hopefully he’s able to keep this power stroke up and prove he’s made some tangible changes to his skillset.

Baseball life is good for the Atlanta Braves at the moment. They’ve already put a gap between them and the rest of the division and the gap keeps growing between them and the Phillies and the Mets as well. The vibes are very positive and the week ahead for the Braves could be a promising one if everything goes according to plan.

With that being said, there’s always reason to take any opponent seriously — and yes, that includes the Colorado Rockies, who would love nothing more than to make a statement of their own at the expense of our Braves. Before Atlanta can get to Colorado, they’ll have to deal with one of the main favorites in the AL Central and their All-World caliber pitcher in the form of two-time defending AL Cy Young Award winner, Tarik Skubal. It’s time to take a look at what’s in store for the Braves for this coming week.

April 28-30: Detroit Tigers

Current Record: 15-14 Projected Record (via FanGraphs): 86-76

Don’t let Detroit’s current record fool you — this’ll likely be a tough series for the Braves and it’s mostly due to the fact that they’ll be catching three really good starters from the Tigers. Casey Mize will be entering his start on Tuesday with a very good track record so far. He’s made five starts and he’s given up one or fewer runs in four of those starts. Framber Valdez’s metrics (particularly his xERA and xBA) suggest that the Braves could do some damage against him but if they get stuck in a ground ball vortex against him on Thursday afternoon, watch out.

Tarik Skubal is, well, Tarik Skubal. Granted, he has had a couple of starts where he’s looked human but if he gets on a roll, it’ll basically just be a matter of waiting until Detroit’s currently-struggling bullpen gets involved and hoping that Bryce Elder continues to do a good job of limiting runs, himself.

When it comes to Detroit’s lineup, they’ve got a nice little core going. Kevin McGonigle is the new hotness around here and the 21-year-old has gotten off to a blazing start at the plate as a big leaguer. Riley Greene has also done his fair share of mashing as well. Kerry Carpenter leads the team in homers and Dillon Dingler is not to far behind him as well. Colt Keith has also been getting his fair share of knocks when called upon. This will be similar to what the Braves had to deal with against the Nationals, as Detroit has some eerily-similar plate numbers to what Washington is putting up right now. If that’s the case, then Elder, Martín Pérez and JR Ritchie will have their hands full trying to keep this lineup quiet.

Tuesday, April 28 at 7:15 p.m. ET (BravesVision)
Wednesday, April 29 at 7:15 p.m. ET (BravesVision, TBS (out-of-market only))
Thursday, April 30 at 12:15 p.m. ET (BravesVision)

May 1-3: Colorado Rockies

Current Record: 13-16 Projected Record: 65-97

As usual, the Rockies are probably going to end up being not-so-good this season. With that being said, this series will take place in Colorado and whenever that’s the case, anything is on the table as far as results go. If you don’t believe me then go ask the Dodgers, who ended up leaving Denver with “just” a four-game series split — and they had to salvage that split too, as the Rockies got up 2-1 in the series on them! I’m not saying that to say that Coors Field is a fortress or anything like that but the Rockies have been playing some decent baseball at home so far and they’ll also be thrilled to be back home after a road trip sent them to New York this past weekend (thanks for the sweep, Rox) and Cincinnati in the midweek series.

With that being said, this is totally doable for the Braves to pull off a series win. So far, the Rockies have only produced a team wRC+ of 89 at Coors Field, where they’ve hit a combined .275/.334/.444 with a team wOBA of .344. Meanwhile, the Braves on the road have hit .258/.328/.458 with a .346 wOBA and a wRC+ of 117. The main difference is the power hitting — Atlanta’s carrying an Isolated Power number of .200 on the road while the Rockies have only hit for .169 Isolated Power within Coors Field. If any slugfests do break out, I’d like Atlanta’s chances in them. Still, you’d like to see the Braves make sure that guys like Mickey Moniak, Hunter Goodman and Troy Johnston stay quiet.

It’ll come down to Atlanta’s pitching staff keeping the Rockies under control and preventing Colorado from sticking around and making things interesting (in a bad way). The good news is that they’ll likely have Chris Sale going for that series and Spencer Strider’s most recent rehab start went very well so he could be activated in time for this series as well. We’ll see who is the third for that rotation since Walt Weiss has indicated that they’re essentially going on a series-by-series basis when it comes to the starting pitching but you have to like Atlanta’s chances if those two guys will be going for them this weekend. We’ll see what happens!

Friday, May 1 at 8:40 p.m. ET (BravesVision)
Saturday, May 2 at 8:10 p.m. ET (BravesVision)
Sunday, May 3 at 3:10 p.m. ET (BravesVision)

When the Mets beat the Twins this past Wednesday to snap their interminable 12-game losing streak, and then followed that up by topping Minnesota again in a wild game on Thursday, it felt like they had turned a corner.

The problem for the Mets was that the street they turned down was a dead end.

That dead end was (mystifyingly) the Rockies, who embarrassed the Mets while sweeping them in a three-game series at Citi Field over the weekend as New York mustered just four runs.

Of the three losses, the most damning was Game 1 of Sunday's doubleheader, when New York could barely do anything against starter Jose Quintana, who entered the game with an ERA of 6.23, was throwing an assortment of slop at them, and had serious issues over the first few innings as he tossed more balls than strikes.

In that game, the Mets had four chances with the bases loaded. Just one hit could've turned the game in their favor. The results in those spots?

Strikeout swinging
Strikeout looking
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Strikeout swinging

The Mets' offensive futility has resulted in a 9-19 record, tied with the Phillies for the worst in MLB. New York's 92 runs scored are the fewest in baseball.

With a season that began with sky high expectations in danger of slipping away before the calendar flips to May, what can the Mets possibly do to shake things up and turn it around?

The Carlos Mendoza situation

I wrote last week that most of the blame for what's gone wrong falls on the players, then on head of baseball operations David Stearns, then on Mendoza.

Nothing has changed in that regard.

And while around the team last week, there was no sense that Mendoza was in immediate danger.

Things change, though.

The Red Sox, in a similar predicament to the Mets, fired Alex Cora over the weekend while also dismissing most of his coaching staff. Cora, of course, won a World Series in Boston in 2018 and is viewed as one of the best managers in baseball.

It seems Boston has scapegoated Cora and his staff instead of looking themselves in the mirror and properly assigning blame. At the same time, it's hard to argue with a team changing the manager and coaching staff amid a disastrous season.

Mendoza is in the final guaranteed year of his contract (New York holds a club option for 2027) and is working with a mostly-new coaching staff. So in that regard, the road has already been paved for the Mets to move on in a clean way during this season if they so choose.

To reiterate: the Mets' 9-19 record is not Mendoza's fault. However, it's more than fair to point at their many miscues so far this season (both mental and physical) and lay a good deal of that at Mendoza's feet. He can't hit or pitch, but the players' preparation and readiness to perform is a reflection of the manager.

What's next for Kodai Senga?

The situation with Senga in the rotation has become untenable, with him being unable to pitch more than 3.1 innings in any of his last three starts.

After Sunday's game, Senga acknowledged his poor performance but was non-committal when asked if he would accept an assignment to Triple-A Syracuse.

The Mets could theoretically move Senga to the bullpen, but that seems like a very poor fit given his routines. Beyond that, the Mets already have three starting pitchers working in relief roles -- David Peterson, Sean Manaea, and Carl Edwards, Jr. They also have Tobias Myers in the bullpen, and he is often relied on for multiple innings at a time.

Speaking last week, Stearns made it clear New York was happy with Myers in his current role. So by process of elimination, it seems the easiest way to replace Senga is to slide Peterson or Manaea into the rotation.

More complicated is what to do with Senga, who is under contract through the 2027 season.

The first base problem

Jorge Polanco could return from the IL relatively soon. But when he does, the expectation is that he'll be used mostly as a DH -- something that makes sense given his Achilles issue.

The problem for the Mets is that both Brett Baty and Mark Vientos are struggling badly offensively.

Baty is hitting .220/.250/.329 (65 OPS+) in 88 plate appearances.

Vientos is hitting .243/.280/.357 (81 OPS+) in 75 plate appearances.

Amid the Mets' first base uncertainty, there have been some fans calling for the team to promote prospect Ryan Clifford from Triple-A Syracuse.

While Clifford's power is tantalizing, he isn't really tearing it up in Triple-A (.768 OPS) and has been striking out at a high rate -- fanning 37 times in 25 games. Clifford is not the answer, at least not now.

Can the offense be jolted by a trade?

The nearly three-week absence of Juan Soto and the current absence of Francisco Lindor has not helped matters, but the offense has been unable to do much of anything due in large part to their big offseason additions (Bo Bichette, Marcus Semien, and Luis Robert Jr.) not providing much.

Bichette (63 OPS+), Semien (65 OPS+), and Robert (89 OPS+) were supposed to deepen the lineup. That hasn't happened. And before he missed time, Polanco (52 OPS+) was not himself at the plate.

Add to that the aforementioned issues facing Baty and Vientos, and you get a situation where a jolt is needed. But where could it come from?

Impact trades are incredibly rare this early in the season.

Even if there was one to be made, it's fair to question whether the Mets should even do it, since it would likely require sacrificing key pieces of their future in an effort to try to salvage a season that might not be salvageable.

Perhaps it could make sense if there's a deal out there that brings New York an offensive difference-maker who is under team control for years to come. But again, it's hard to see something like that materializing this early.

Any top prospects on the horizon?

Christian Scott got a chance in the rotation last week and will likely be back sooner rather than later.

Jonah Tong's stuff has been better than his overall results early on this season, and he has started to lock in recently. But he's still working on refining his secondary offerings in Triple-A and will not be rushed (nor should he be).

Flamethrowing reliever Ryan Lambert should impact the big league club at some point this season, but walks remain a serious issue for him as he's issued nine in 7.2 innings for Syracuse.

The most intriguing position player in the higher levels of the minors is A.J. Ewing, who was promoted to Triple-A on Monday after tearing up Double-A Binghamton.

In 81 plate appearances over 18 games for Binghamton this season, Ewing slashed .349/.481/.571 (1.053 OPS) with two homers, six doubles, one triple, and 12 stolen bases.

The 21-year-old Ewing, whose future is expected to be in the outfield, has started 13 games in center field this season, four at second base, and one at DH.

Ewing is now just a phone call away from the majors.

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The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres are both red hot and begin a tape-measuring, three-game set at Petco Park tonight.

My top Cubs vs. Padres predictions and MLB picks call for Chicago to earn the win in a low-scoring bout tonight.

Who will win Cubs vs Padres today: Cubs moneyline (-103)

The Chicago Cubs send a superior lineup to the dish with a seventh-ranked wOBA against righties, while this San Diego Padres offense ranks 28th in wOBA against lefties.

I’m confident in Cubbies southpaw Matthew Boyd, too. He’s a start removed from returning from his biceps injury and sports a rock-solid 3.39 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 3.74 xERA since joining the club in 2025.

Friars righty Randy Vasquez's 1.88 ERA is also miles below his 4.31 xERA, so I’m expecting hiccups navigating a Chicago lineup that’s specialized in timely hitting during an active 13-5 heater.

COVERS INTEL: The Cubs pace the majors in wOBA while averaging 6.0 runs per game during the highlighted 13-5 stretch.

Cubs vs Padres Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-133)

The No. 1 reason I like this Under is that while Vasquez is off to an unsustainable start, his fastball velocity and movement are up to generate more swinging strikes. It has enabled him to allow just four runs across 22 2/3 innings during his first two trips through the order over his five starts.

Add the wind blowing in at Petco Park to the highlighted San Diego struggles against lefties, and I expect Boyd to keep the Padres off balance at the dish, too.

Of course, San Diego has only played to the Over in 19 of its past 50 games, too.

Cubs vs Padres odds

• Moneyline: Cubs -102 | Padres -118
• Run line: Cubs -1.5 (+150) | Padres +1.5 (-182)
• Over/Under: Over 8 (-105) | Under 8 (-115)

Cubs vs Padres trend

The Cubs have won 10 of their last 12 games for +8.75 units and a 61% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Cubs vs. Padres.

How to watch Cubs vs Padres and game info

Cubs vs Padres latest injuries

Cubs vs Padres weather

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Mets top prospect A.J. Ewing is one step closer to the major leagues.

The 21-year-old outfielder has been promoted to Triple-A Syracuse after a red-hot start to his season at Binghamton. 

In 18 games this season, Ewing hit .349 with a .481 OBP and 1.053 OPS, hitting two home runs with seven RBI, 16 runs scored and 12 stolen bases. 

Ewing had an impressive spring training showing with the Mets this year, slashing .381/.423/.667 with one home runs and six RBI in 10 games. 

Ewing, a center fielder who has also been getting some time at second base, is SNY's No. 3 overall prospect in the Mets system, behind only Nolan McLean and Carson Benge, both of whom are already in the majors.

For the past couple of weeks, both Sean Murphy and Spencer Strider have been busy on the farm getting in work via rehab assignments. While Strider may be closer to returning than Murphy is, one thing we know now is that they’ll be joined by a third Braves big leaguer who is working his way back from injury.

All the way back in January, shortstop Ha-Seong Kim slipped on ice and tore a tendon in his right middle finger. That astonishing bit of bad luck cost him the rest of the offseason, spring training and at least one full month of the regular season. The good news is that Kim is closer to being ready now than ever before and the Braves have decided that now is the time to send him out on a rehab assignment.

The Double-A Columbus Clingstones put out a press release today announcing that Kim will be playing with the Clingstones for this week’s home series against the Montgomery Biscuits.

Here’s more from the press release:

The Atlanta Braves today announced that infielder Ha-Seong Kim has joined the Columbus Clingstones on a Major League rehab assignment, marking the first MLB rehab assignment in franchise history.

Kim will appear with the Clingstones during the club’s upcoming homestand against Montgomery at Synovus Park. 

The six-game series begins Tuesday, April 28 with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. ET. For tickets and more information, visit Clingstones.com

The statement is short and matter-of-fact but it’s big news. Kim was acquired off waivers from the Rays right as the final month of the 2025 season began and Kim proceeded to produce at a clip of .253/.316/.368 with a .301 wOBA (.309 xwOBA), 91 wRC+ and three home runs. Those numbers were below what his usual level of production is but the Braves believed in it enough to where they agreed to a $20 million one-year-deal during the offseason to keep him around. Assuming Kim returns and stays healthy, that’ll be the key to really unlocking Mauricio Dubón’s versatility as well — which we’re already seeing with the way Walt Weiss has plugged him into any spot needed early on in the season.

Either way, getting Kim back will be huge but this could also be a lengthy rehab stint given that he’s been out for so long. Sean Murphy is also taking his time to get ready for the farm so I’d imagine that we may not see both of them until we get a decent amount into May. Either way, that’s now three big leaguers who are actively working their way back to being on the major league squad for the Braves and three players who could potentially provide an impressive impact as well.

It took a weekend rally, but the Dodgers continued their streaks of winning weeks to open the season. They bookended the week with blowout wins, but in between saw the offense disappear, losing a series in San Francisco. Winning the last two games against the Cubs gave the Dodgers a 4-3 week.

Newly-signed closer Edwin Díaz had surgery on Wednesday and will be out three months, and his absence was immediately felt as the next four on the depth chart all had outings to forget this week. Starting pitching has been an incredible strength of the Dodgers this season, and Week 5 was no different. No better illustration of the pitching staff from last week than the starters allowing nine runs in 45 1/3 innings while the bullpen gave up 10 runs in 15 2/3 innings.

Batter of the week

Max Muncy hit three more home runs, giving him a team-leading nine on the year, and for the week he also paced the Dodgers in hits (eight), walks (six),and runs scored (eight), for a robust 1.639 OPS.

Honorable mentions go to Dalton Rushing, who hit two more home runs to continue his hot start to the year, and to Miguel Rojas, who had five hits in his 10 at-bats, including a double and home run.

Pitcher of the week

Tyler Glasnow is off to a fantastic start to 2026, and had his best start yet on Thursday in San Francisco, with nine strikeouts in eight scoreless innings to beat the Giants. Glasnow retired his final 14 batters faced, and his 88 game score tied Sandy Alcantara (April 1 for the Marlins) for the best showing by a starting pitcher in MLB this season.

“It was a little tense early on, probably trying too hard. I think as the game went on I was just thinking about keeping my hands and my body loose,” Glasnow told reporters Thursday in San Francisco. “Talking with Connor (McGuiness) and Mark (Prior) in between, I think I just got into a good place as the game went on.”

Glasnow’s 88 game score is the best by a Dodgers starter since Blake Snell put up a 90 game score in Game 1 of last year’s National League Championship Series in Milwaukee.

Glasnow was so good that he relegated Justin Wrobleski’s excellent week to most honorable mention status. Wrobleski allowed only one run in seven innings at Coors Field on Monday, then worked through traffic to keep the Cubs scoreless on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. Normally one run in 13 innings wins you pitcher of the week here, but Glasnow had a special performance.

Week 5 results

4-3 record
38 runs scored (5.43 per game)
19 runs allowed (2.71 per game)
.780 pythagorean win percentage

Year to date

19-9 record
159 runs scored (5.68 per game)
92 runs allowed (3.29 per game)
.731 pythagorean win percentage (20-8)

Miscellany

Snapping a skid: Sunday was a welcome site for Shohei Ohtani, who reached base four times, including a double, walk, and home run. The latter was the first home run for Ohtani in two weeks, after going 59 plate appearances in between long balls. That was the longest homer drought for Ohtani since joining the Dodgers — he also had 47 PA and 46 PA without a home run in 2025, and streaks of 45 PA and 40 PA in 2024. The 59 PA without a home run was Ohtani’s longest since ending 2022 with 93 homerless PA with the Angels, the longest streak of his career.

Pretty fast for a pitcher: Now that he’s back to full-time two-way status this season, it’s understandable if Shohei Ohtani tries to conserve energy whenever possible. For instance, he didn’t pitch at all in 2024 after elbow surgery, and stole 59 bases, more than doubling his career high. In 2025 he stole 20 bases, but 11 of those were in his first 47 games, before his pitching really ramped up. He dialed it back a bit with nine steals in his final 111 games. This year, Ohtani did not even attempt a stolen base in his first 21 games. But last week he swiped three bases in three tries, all of them in the first inning.

Play of the week: This ended up getting overshadowed by a bullpen implosion and the Dodgers losing a game they led 4-0 in the seventh inning, but the twirling throw from Andy Pages, the laser relay by Hyeseong Kim, and Will Smith’s second great tag of the game at home plate prevented the go-ahead run from scoring in the eighth inning on Friday against the Cubs.

Transactions

Monday: After diminished velocity rang alarm bells, closer Edwin Díaz landed on the injured list and will miss three months or so after arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his right elbow on Wednesday. Right-hander Jake Eder was recalled from Oklahoma City.

Tuesday: After two days away for the birth of his daughter, Freddie Freemanreturned from paternity leave. Ryan Ward went back to Triple-A after collecting two hits with a run batted in during his first major league stint.

Game results

• Monday: Dodgers 12, Rockies 3
• Tuesday: Giants 3, Dodgers 1
• Wednesday: Giants 3, Dodgers 0
• Thursday: Dodgers 3, Giants 0
• Friday: Cubs 6, Dodgers 4
• Saturday: Dodgers 12, Cubs 4
• Sunday: Dodgers 6, Cubs 0

Previous reviews: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4

Up next

The Dodgers run the Juan Encarnación gauntlet, finishing up the homestand against the Miami Marlins before hitting the road to face the Cardinals in St. Louis to open the month of May.

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It’s Max Fried Day for the New York Yankees as they begin a series with the Texas Rangers.

Fried has looked as good as ever this season, and it’s hard to stand in the way of him, especially considering how hot the Bronx Bombers have been lately.

My Yankees vs. Rangers predictions and MLB picks see value in the Yankees on Monday, April 27.

Who will win Yankees vs Rangers today: Yankees moneyline (-156)

Max Fried is going to have a bad start at some point this season. Predicting when that comes is difficult, but you’d imagine it happens against a team that avoids both the ground ball and the swing-and-miss. The Texas Rangers are not that team.

The ground ball remains a major part of Fried’s profile, as he’s nearing a 50% rate this season. His strikeout rate has declined over time, but a nine-strikeout outing against the Red Sox and a 30% chase rate show he can still dominate when hitters expand the zone.

Texas does a great job avoiding groundballs, but they rank last in chase contact rate and also carry a Top 3 whiff rate. That’s an issue for me in this matchup, particularly considering how strong of a fade candidate that Rangers SP Jack Leiter is for me.

A Bottom 15% barrel rate, and a Bottom 20% hard-hit rate? You don’t need me to tell you that's an issue against the New York Yankees. I’d play this to -172.

COVERS INTEL: Fried's fastball run value is in the 99th percentile, his off-speed in the 98th, and breaking ball in the 94th.

Yankees vs Rangers Over/Under pick: Under 8 (-105)

This matchup likely leans toward a 4-2 or 3-1 Yankees victory rather than a blowout. 

There’s not much I need to say about Fried here. I think he’ll be able to get a high amount of swing-and-miss against this team, especially given how he’s performed out of the gate.

On the other side, while I think the Yankees get Leiter, he should also be able to collect a high amount of outs against the bottom of the New York lineup that has so much swing-and-miss. 

Yankees vs Rangers odds

• Moneyline: Yankees -156 | Rangers +136
• Run line: Yankees -1.5 | Rangers +1.5
• Over/Under: Over 8 | Under 8

Yankees vs Rangers trend

The Yankees have hit the moneyline in 28 of their last 40 away games (+11.50 Units / 20% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Yankees vs. Rangers.

How to watch Yankees vs Rangers and game info

Yankees vs Rangers latest injuries

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Listen, I’m just thankful that the week is over. A road trip in which the team went 1-6 is nothing to exactly be thrilled with, but look hard enough and you’ll see some players that had good weeks.

They’re a lot more difficult to find than those that had bad weeks, but they are there! I promise!

Three up

Brandon Marsh – We are almost done with the month of April and Brandon Marsh might be, dare I say it, good? He hit .391/.417/.652 with two home runs this week, all against right handed pitchers, but there were some solid plate appearances against left handers as well. I realize that the standard for this sort of success against lefties is low with Marsh, but in a week full of justified negativity, seeing Marsh take those good at bats against left handed pitchers, be more than productive against right handed pitchers, it’s a good step for him.

Zack Wheeler – There were bumps in the start, but for the most part, Wheeler looked like his old self against the Braves. The typical Wheeler command wasn’t there yet, expected after such a long layoff from his injury, but there were moments when the Braves were looking feeble against his stuff. The velocity being up near 96 most of the night was encouraging, but how he throws in his next start will be the thing to watch. If he’s keeping that velocity up in each subsequent start, we’d have to qualify his recovery as nothing short of amazing.

Adolis Garcia – A nice week from Garcia, who is starting to get some results from his under the hood numbers. Granted, it would be nice to see some more extra base hits instead of singles through the hole at short, but for a team that has been woeful on offense lately, beggars, choosers, blah blah blah.

Three down

Kyle Schwarber – Home runs are great. Home runs are cool. Players still need to do something other than that and lately, Schwarber simply hasn’t. His .111/.250/.407 line this past week isn’t really what you want to see coming from the person expected to create runs. He’s still hitting for power, which for this team is saying something, but they need more from him. They need the 2025 version of Schwarber, not the 2023 version.

Felix Reyes – It was fun while it lasted. I appreciate the effort to try something new in the midst of a miserable stretch of baseball, but Reyes is not ready for the major leagues. It would be best for him to be sent back to Lehigh Valley to continue working, so let’s see what is available for them to call up! <scans Lehigh Valley roster> Ah, mhm, yes, well nevermind then!

Aaron Nola – In our Slack channel, there was a comment made about Aaron Nola and how he is still going to be with the team for the next several years as he sits here at the end of April with an ERA above six. Someone responded: “Hey, it’s like we get to have Patrick Corbin after all.” and friends, I could not be more despondent after a comment. Mostly because I think it might be true.