Apr 15, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Chad Patrick (39) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
After breaking a three-game losing streak on Sunday, the Brewers are back tonight to continue their homestand. Next up are the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are in for a three-game series.
For the Brewers, Chad Patrick is on the mound tonight. He’s coming off of a rough appearance in Detroit where he allowed four runs in four innings. Other than that appearance, he’s been good this season, allowing zero or one runs in his other four appearances. For the Diamondbacks, Merrill Kelly is making his third start of the season. He’s coming off of a bad start against the White Sox, allowing eight runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Prior to tonight’s game, we received several injury updates on the Brewers’ roster from Pat Murphy:
The batting orders continue to cycle for the Brewers, as they will continue with their streak of not using the same lineup in two different games this season. Garrett Mitchell gets his second chance as the leadoff hitter tonight, with William Contreras and Brice Turang batting second and third. Tyler Black is batting cleanup as the DH with Jake Bauers behind him fifth. Brandon Lockridge, Sal Frelick, David Hamilton, and Joey Ortiz round out the lineup.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. on Brewers.TV and the Brewers Radio Network.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 22: Tyler Mahle #54 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inningat Oracle Park on April 22, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The San Francisco Giants head east today to begin a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Tyler Mahle, who enters today’s game with a 5.26 ERA, 5.78 FIP, with 26 strikeouts to 14 walks in 25.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers last Wednesday, in which he allowed just three hits and two walks with five strikeouts in seven innings.
He’ll be facing off against Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo, who enters today’s game with a 6.91 ERA, 3.24 FIP, with 33 strikeouts to nine walks in 27.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Phillies’ 7-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs last Tuesday, in which he allowed one run on five hits with three strikeouts and four walks in four and two thirds innings.
CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 22: Yordan Alvarez #44 of the Houston Astros celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run in the first inning during the game between the Houston Astros and the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Grace Hoppel/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Tonight begins the third series in a row in which the O’s face a team currently sitting in last place in its division. It’s unusual to find the Astros resembling that remark, as they’ve been consistently good for the better part of a decade, making the playoffs eight times in the last ten years.
The problem for Houston this year is its pitching. They enter this series ranked last in the majors in ERA, with a 5.97 team mark. That comprises an especially bad 6.31 bullpen ERA, but their rotation is also second-to-last in ERA, as well. That is a lot of bad pitching.
On the other hand, the Astros also have a league-leading 15 players on the IL. So there are reasons for the struggles. And a few stars are carrying the team, anyway. Yordan Alvarez has been going ham (no one still says that, right?), with an MLB-leading 1.220 OPS and 11 homers (tied for second with Aaron Judge) in 29 games. Former Oriole Christian Walker is also hitting annoyingly well, with a .946 OPS and seven home runs. Carlos Correa, reunited with the team that drafted him, is hitting .281, although not for much power, and José Altuve continues to be good (.260 BA/.358 OBP/.413 SLG).
Tonight’s Astros starter is Taiwan product Kai-Wei Teng. The bad news: he’s been good. The good news: he hasn’t started a game yet this season, and he’s not a left-hander (against whom the O’s are 0-6). The 27-year-old from Taiwan was traded from San Francisco to Houston this offseason, and the results have been there in 11 appearances out of the bullpen (1-1, 2.16 ERA). Teng’s four-seam fastball sits at 94.5 mph and sets up a dominant sweeper, easily his best pitch. Opponents have just an .074 average against it.
So far this season, Teng’s high pitch count is 39. Still, this may be less an opener gambit by Houston than a desperation move given a lack of other available options. If Teng can give the Astros 60 pitches, they’ll probably be happy with that. I’m curious to see how that translates multiple times through the order.
It would be super neat if Shane Baz turned in his first great start as an Oriole. In five starts, his best so far was one run allowed over 5.2 innings against the Pirates, a game the Orioles still managed to lose. Three times he’s allowed four runs and three runs the other time. Baz rounding into form would be more for the sake of the 2026 Orioles season than about winning the trade or the extension, although obviously it would be nice for the O’s if those things happen, as well.
Baz’s offspeed stuff has been a particular problem—but then, I checked and hitters are averaging .333 or better against all of his pitches but the cutter. He’s allowing more line drives than at any point in his career, which is a risk against a power-heavy lineup like Houston’s. One thing to be said in his favor: a .360 BABIP is just crazy bad luck. Perhaps tonight’s lineup—featuring three real outfielders—may help Baz bring that number down into manageable territory.
Apr 6, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee (28) delivers during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images | David Dermer-Imagn Images
Here’s the Rays’ lineup:
Rays 4/28
C. Simpson LF J. Caminero 3B J. Aranda 1B Y. Díaz DH J. Fraley RF C. Mullins CF N. Fortes C R. Palacios 2B T. Walls SS
Apr 15, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo (42) throws a pitch against the Chicago Cubs in the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
CLEVELAND, OHIO - APRIL 21: Relief pitcher Kai-Wei Teng #17 of the Houston Astros pitches during the sixth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on April 21, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Houston Astros (11-18) begin a 6-game road trip tonight with the first game of a 3-game series against the Baltimore Orioles (13-15) at Camden Yards.
RHP Kai-Wei Teng (1-1, 2.16 ERA) will make his first start and 12th appearance of the season as he takes on Orioles starter RHP Shane Baz (0-2, 5.08 ERA).
ABOUT TENG: RHP Kai-Wei Teng makes his first start of the season tonight after beginning the season in the Astros bullpen.
In his 11 appearances out of the pen, he went 1-1 with 2.16 ERA (4ER/16.IP).
Tough To Hit:Teng has posted a .155 opponents batting avg., allowing just 9 hits in his 16.2 IP.
Last Appearance:Was on 4/25 vs. NYY (0.1 IP, 1 ER).
As A Starter:Teng has made 7 ML starts in his career, all while with SF in 2025.
Last Start: Teng’s last start was on Sept. 20, 2025 at Dodgers Stadium (ND, 3.0 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO).
Fun Facts: With his first ML win on Aug. 8, 2025 vs. WAS, Teng became the 8th Taiwanese-born pitcher in MLB history to earn a victory. Teng is the 2nd Taiwanese-born player/ pitcher to play for the Astros, joining RHP Chien Jen-Lo (2013).
VS. THE O’S: Tonight is the first of 6 scheduled matchups vs. the Orioles this season.
The Astros were 4-3 vs. BAL in 2025 with a 3-1 mark at Camden Yards when the two clubs last faced, Aug. 21-24.
Following the current series, the two clubs will next meet for a 3-game set at Daikin Park, July 17-19.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Astros are on the road again for a 6-game trip following brief, 3-game homestand vs. NYY (Fri-Sun.).
After this 3-game series ends on Thursday, HOU will head to Beantown for a 3-game series vs. the Red Sox at Fenway Park this weekend.
ON THE OFFENSIVE: The Astros lead the AL in most key offensive categories: Runs (151), AVG (.259), OPS (.783), Doubles (63), OBP (.345), SLG (.438), Total Bases (430).
CAMDEN CRUSHER:Jose Altuve has a .377 (60×169) career avg. at Camden Yards with .444/.616/1.060 splits in 38 games. His .377 avg and 1.060 OPS at Camden Yards rank 2nd-best all-time, using a minimum of 150 ABs.
Vs. The O’s: Additionally, Altuve’s .321 career avg. vs. the Orioles overall is his 2nd-best vs. any AL club and his 6th-best vs. any MLB club overall.
Altuve has posted aa .300+ career batting avg. vs. 15 opposing teams.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Jose Altuve, who played his 2,000th career game on April 21 at CLE, is approaching more career milestones.
He needs 3 RBI to become the 5th player in franchise history to reach 900.
With 238 career HR, he needs one more to tie Lou Whitaker for 7th place all-time among 2nd basemen.
MAN ON FIRE:Yordan Alvarez has had a torrid start to this season, hitting .358 with 11 HR and 26 RBI. In addition to batting avg. and RBI, Alvarez also leads the AL in OPS (1.220), Offensive WAR (1.9), SLG (.755), OBP (.465) and Total Bases (80)….
Additionally, Alvarez also has the longest current hitting streak in the Majors at 12 games (.400, 20×50, 5 HR), his career best was a 13-game streak, May 2-16, 2023.
WALKER, TEXAS HAMMER:Christian Walker is hitting .417 (10×24) over the past week (since 4/20) with 3 HR and 7 RBI.
Walker was 6×12 (.500) in the series over the weekend vs. NYY with 5 RBI.
Among The Leaders: For the season, Walker enters tonight ranked T-3rd in the AL in RBI (23), 5th in SLG (.573), 6th in TB (59), 7th in OPS (.946) and 8th in doubles (8).
GUN ‘EM DOWN: In just 14 games (11 starts), C Christian Vázquez has thrown out seven baserunners attempting to steal (in 14 attempts), ranking tied for second in the AL in that category.
THE ORDER: The Astros have used 29 different batting orders in their 28 games so far this season.
Only LF Yordan Alvarez has started every game in the same spot in the lineup (second).
STALKING THE PUMA: LF Yordan Alvarez has matched the Astros franchise record with 11 home runs in the club’s first 29 games of a season, a feat he also accomplished in the 2022 season.
The only other Astro with 11 homers with the club’s first 29 games was OF Lance Berkman, who did so in both 2002 and 2006.
ON THE MEND:RHP Cody Bolton began a rehab assignment with Triple A Sugar Land on Sunday. In his outing, he allowed 1 run on 2 hits and 1 walk in 2.0 innings.
OF Zach Dezenzo also went 0x4 with a walk on Sunday with Sugar Land in his rehab appearance.
TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY:2000 – In Milwaukee, RHP Chris Holt turns in the best performance of his career with a 1-hit, 7-0 shutout of the Brewers. The only hit allowed by Holt was a Ron Belliard single in the 2nd inning.
1998 – In the Dome, a 10th-inning, walk-off single by Sean Berry lifts the Astros to a 4-3, come-from-behind win over the Mets. The Astros trailed, 3-1 entering the bottom of the 9th before rallying for 2 runs off Mets closer John Franco to tie it.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Tuesday, April 28, 5:35 p.m. CST
Location: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD
TV: Space City Home Network
Streaming: SCHN+
Radio: KTRH 740 AM & 99.1 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - APRIL 20: Taylor Walls #6 of the Tampa Bay Rays throws the ball during the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Tropicana Field on April 20, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Apr 1, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland (21) pitches to the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
The Colorado Rockies are surely feeling good about life since they are coming off a three-game sweep of the New York Mets at Citi Field. Worth noting, Colorado sits at 13-16 on the season, their best start through 29 games since 2022, when they got off to a 16-13 start.
In addition, the Rockies are 26 games into a 29-game stretch since March 30 against teams that finished the 2025 season with a winning record. They have gone 13-13 thus far, a marked improvement over 2025.
Tonight, the Rockies hope their good fortune will continue as they travel to play the Cincinnati Reds in a three-game series.
Starting for the Rockies is Kyle Freeland, who is just off the IL with some shoulder issues. This will be his fourth start for the Rockies in 2026.
The lefty has a 2.30 ERA in 15.2 IP. He’s struck out 13, walked four, and given up one home run. Freeland has a 1.09 WHIP.
Taking the mound for the Reds will be RHP Chase Burns.
Currently, he has an ERA of 2.57 in 28.0 IP. He’s struck out 30 while giving up 11 walks and four home runs with a 1.07 WHIP.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 22: Oneil Cruz #15 of the Pittsburgh Pirates runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run against the Texas Rangers during the ninth inning at Globe Life Field on April 22, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Pitching Matchup: Kyle Leahy (2-3, 5.63 ERA) vs. TBD
The Pittsburgh Pirates are at home hosting the St. Louis Cardinals this afternoon at beautiful PNC Park.
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The Mets hadn’t officially listed who their starting pitcher would be for the second game of their series against the Nationals until this afternoon, but it’s official now: David Peterson is getting the start. The 30-year-old lefty had lost his rotation spot after a string of very bad outings, but he’s fared better working multiple innings in relief over his last couple of appearances.
In four starts before moving into the bullpen/bulk role, Peterson had a rather unsightly 6.41 ERA with a 3.33 FIP that suggested he deserved better results and a 5.01 xERA that suggested slightly less ugly results. In those two appearances out of the bullpen after the Mets used Tobias Myers as an opener, Peterson threw a total of 7.0 innings with a 1.29 ERA, a 4.99 FIP, and a 4.07 xERA.
With Kodai Senga having gone on the injured list this afternoon and Christian Scott having been called back up following a poor outing in his first major league start in two years, Peterson will clearly get a shot at sticking in the rotation. In the short term, at least, they don’t have a ton of options, and Peterson and Scott will presumably serve in a five-man rotation alongside Nolan McLean, Clay Holmes, and Freddy Peralta.
Justin Steele throws a bullpen session in Mesa in February | | Getty Images
Justin Steele had Tommy John surgery just about a year ago. So, most were hoping he could come back to the Cubs rotation sometime in late May or early June.
That, apparently, will not be happening:
As mentioned on ESPN 1000 a few minutes ago, Cubs pitcher Justin Steele has had a setback, per sources. He's shutdown for the time being. Steele was recovering from elbow surgery and is eligble to come off the IL around Memorial Day. That could be in jeopardy.
We don’t really know anything beyond this, yet. A “setback” could be a few days, or a few weeks, or longer, we just don’t know. “Shut down” could last… well, again, we don’t know.
It’s fortunate that the Cubs rotation, put together mostly by patchwork at this point, has been doing pretty well. Entering tonight’s game against the Padres, the Cubs starters have a 4.18 ERA, which is middle of the pack (14th) among all teams, just behind the Rangers at 4.17.
Obviously the Cubs would like this ranking to improve.
One thing that almost certainly will NOT happen anytime soon is a trade for a starter who would improve the rotation. No team is going to be trading a quality starting pitcher before the end of April.
So the Cubs will have to hope that Shōta Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Edward Cabrera, Colin Rea and Jameson Taillon can hold things together until July, when there likely will be starters on the market. Or maybe Steele can be ready to return after the All-Star break.
As always, we await developments. Today’s game preview will post at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Luis Robert Jr. | (Photo: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images)
In addition to mentioning that Juan Soto is dealing with forearm tightness in his pregame press availability, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said that fellow outfielder Luis Robert Jr. is dealing with lower back tightness. The team considers him day-to-day at the moment.
The perpetually-injured Robert is in his age-28 season, his first in Queens as he came to the organization in a trade with the White Sox over the offseason. Over the course of his major league career, he’s topped out at 145 games played in a single season, and his next-best total was 110. Over the last five seasons, he’s averaged 104 games played per year.
On top of the injury concerns, Robert came into this season with back-to-back 84 wRC+ seasons to his name in 2024 and 2025 in Chicago. He’s off to a slightly better start than that with a .224/.327/.329 line and a 94 wRC+, but he’s been worth just 0.2 fWAR and hasn’t looked the part of a stellar defender in center field.
Still, with Francisco Lindor out of the Mets’ lineup for the foreseeable future, the last thing the Mets need is another injured player. Here’s hoping Robert ends up being fine and returning in a matter of days, but it won’t be shocking if he ends up missing more time than that given his track record.
Feb 28, 2026; Sarasota, Florida, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider (99) throws a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles during the first inning at Ed Smith Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Hoo boy, we got an absolute litany of updates from Atlanta Braves manager Walt Weiss during his usual pre-game press conference. It was as if the skipper just decided to take this opportunity to clear the air about the handful of Braves players who are in various stages of working their way back onto the big league roster.
Big thanks to Grant McAuley for detailing some of these updates since there were a bunch of them. We’ll go one by one, starting with Spencer Strider:
Spencer Strider
Strider was spotted at Truist Park on Saturday doing a throwing program ahead of his rehab start on Sunday with Gwinnett. The start went well and now the Braves are planning for Strider to make his return to the roster this weekend in Colorado against the Rockies. As Weiss has mentioned in previous statements, the rotation is currently on a series-by-series basis so we don’t know which day will be Strider’s day but it will be this weekend.
#Braves MGR Walt Weiss said that Spencer Strider will start against the Colorado Rockies this weekend. They have not set the rotation yet.
Meanwhile, Murphy has been struggling a bit at the plate during his rehab stint. He did pick up three hits on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Miami’s Triple-A squad) but those were also the first three hits that he’s collected so far on rehab after going 7 games and 19 plate appearances without a hit and just one walk. As such, the Braves are giving Murphy a little more time and according to Weiss, it’ll be “4-to-5 more days” before they’ll re-evaluate his status.
Ha-Seong Kim
The Braves are anticipating that Kim will need “a couple of weeks” for a rehab assignment before they start to think about bringing him up. I’d imagine that it’ll be the same process as what Murphy is getting, so I personally wouldn’t anticipate seeing Murphy until early-May and Ha-Seong Kim until mid-May.
Raisel Iglesias
Iggy is reportedly back throwing again and his shoulder inflammation has “subsided” so this should indeed just be a minimal IL stint for Atlanta’s high-leverage reliever. Please tell me he’s learned how to sleep in a normal position.
Hurston Waldrep
Apparently Waldrep will be throwing his first bullpen session since having surgery on his elbow to remove those infamous “loose bodies.” The bullpen session will take place within the next few days. In fact, we actually got a bit of a timeline for Waldrep, as McAuley reported that the Braves are apparently targeting June as a possible time for Waldrep to get back into game action.
Spencer Schwellenbach
We also got a timeline for Schwellenbach as well but that one is a lot more nebulous. Schwellenbach still isn’t throwing yet and Weiss told the media that he’s expecting a return after the All-Star Break. So this is very much a long-term situation for Schwellenbach.
#Braves say Spencer Schwellenbach isn't throwing yet, but progressing.
Hurston Waldrep will throw his first bullpen in about a week.
So there you have it! That’s about as clear of an update as you can get for a lot of these guys who are still trying to get back healthy in order to join a Braves squad that is flying high at the moment. The good news for Schwellenbach and Waldrep in particular is that they can likely take their time in getting healthy since the pitching staff is currently doing very well in their absence and they’ll still need plenty of time to get right anyways.
With that being said, it’s certainly exciting to know that Spencer Strider will be back soon and that guys like Raisel Iglesias, Sean Murphy and even Ha-Seong Kim are clearly on the right track as well. This team still isn’t at full strength yet and help is one the way. It’s a very good sight to see!
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said that Juan Soto experienced forearm tightness after throwing on Friday, and the team is hoping he can get back to playing the field in the next few days. For now, Soto is in the Mets’ lineup as the team’s designated hitter for their series opener against the Nationals tonight at Citi Field.
Having moved from right field to left field ahead of the 2026 season—following a rather disastrous defensive showing in right in his first season with the Mets last year—the typically-durable Soto already spent some time on the injured list with calf tightness this month.
He returned from that injury on April 22, and in the Mets’ five games since then, he’s hit .200/.429/.200 in 21 plate appearances. On the season, Soto is hitting .301/.418/.413 with one home run and a 141 wRC+ in 55 plate appearances.
While forearm tightness isn’t quite as dreaded a term for a position player as it is for a pitcher, outfielders do occasionally end up needing Tommy John surgery for injuries that arise in the forearm. Bryce Harper is the most notable of those players, but aside from the time he needed on the injury list to recover, he’s been a very good hitter after having the surgery.
For now, the Mets say that Soto is not experiencing any discomfort when swinging the bat, and the last thing they can afford in a season that’s off to a terrible start is significant time without Soto in the lineup. Keeping him at DH for the time being seems like a wise move, even if the Mets’ outfield options aren’t super appealing at the moment.
