Category: MLB

After getting knocked around Saturday to the tune of a 10-2 loss, the 2026 Nats showed a level of resilience hardly ever shown by the 2025 club, taking command early thanks to a 3-run shot by Joey Wiemer to defeat the Cubs 6-3 and win their first opening series since 2018. The story of the weekend was the aforementioned Wiemer, who had yet to record an out and is tied for the major league lead in fWAR with 0.6, despite playing just 2 games compared to the other leaders, who have played 4.

The club now heads to Philadelphia, where they’ll take on the currently last-place Philadelphia Phillies (Have to take every opportunity you get to say that). The Phils won on opening day before dropping the final 2 games of their opening series, backed by a strong start by MacKenzie Gore in his Rangers debut yesterday, going 5 1/3 innings and allowing 2 runs. The trio of former Nats at the top of the Phillies lineup were all cold in the first series of the year, with Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber batting .154, and Bryce Harper batting .091.

Game One – Monday 6:40 PM EST

WSH: LHP Foster Griffin

PHI: RHP Taijuan Walker

Griffin will make his Nationals debut tonight and his first big league appearance since 2022. He showed promise in his 2 Spring Training starts (3 including the exhibition against team Venezuela), posting a 2.53 FIP across 8 innings.

Walker had a solid bounce-back 2025 season for the Phillies after getting roughed up to an ERA over 7 in 2024, posting a 4.08 ERA in 123.2 innings pitched. He’ll make his season debut today against a Nats team he has a 3.56 career ERA against.

Game Two – Tuesday 6:40 PM EST

WSH: TBD

PHI: RHP Andrew Painter

Monday is Littell’s scheduled day in the rotation, but the Nationals have not announced a starter yet. If he is unable to go, the Nats could roll with a variety of options, from a Brad Lord spot start to a bullpen game, to a starter callup from Triple A with a corresponding roster move.

Painter was on the fast track to the big leagues for the Phillies before Tommy John Surgery knocked him out of the 2023 and 2024 season, but after 22 starts in Triple A in 2025 with middling results, the Phillies trust him to be their 5th starter in 2026, at least to begin the year. He will make his big league debut Monday night against the Nats.

Game Three – Wednesday 1:05 PM EST

WSH: RHP Cade Cavalli

PHI: LHP Cristopher Sanchez

Cavalli only went 3 2/3 innings in his start on Opening Day, being limited by some command issues, but the swing and miss stuff looked on point, striking out 5 Cubs batters. He’ll be tested again in his second career start against a strong Phillies lineup, but one he did throw 7 scoreless against last season for his first big league win.

Sanchez dominated against the Rangers on Opening Day, throwing 6 shutout innings with 10 strikeouts. He’ll now face a lefty-heavy Nats lineup that has had success in their 2 games against lefty starters so far in 2026, scoring 16 runs in both games combined.

A Chance To Make A Statement

Taking the opening series on the road against a playoff team from last season was a strong start for Butera and his ballclub, but if they can go into Philadelphia and take a series from their hated division rivals, a team filled with former Nats, it would send a message to the NL East and baseball this Nationals club isn’t a pumching bag for them anymore.

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Luis Castillo will take the mound in what were friendly confines for him last season as the New York Yankees open a series with the Seattle Mariners.

On the other side, Ryan Weathers will make his debut for the Bronx Bombers after being acquired from the Marlins last season. We think this pitch pairing sets up both teams to keep the runs down.

My Yankees vs. Mariners predictions and MLB picks break down why we like a low-scoring affair on Monday, March 30.

Yankees vs Mariners predictions

Yankees vs Mariners best bet: Under 7.5 (-110)

Luis Castillo's home numbers last season were legitimate: a 2.60 ERA and 1.00 WHIP across 100+ innings, with his strikeout rate jumping to 25%. He's in a position to attack a New York Yankees lineup with plenty of swing and miss. 

On the other hand, it is difficult to know what to make of Ryan Weathers, but a short outing is a near certainty. That will turn things over to a well-rested New York bullpen that has yet to allow a run this season.

Two quality pitching outings (one by committee) in one of baseball's most suppressive offensive environments.

COVERS INTEL: Luis Castillo's 2.11 ERA home-road differential last season was among the largest of any qualified starter. Quite frankly, he was literally a different pitcher at home than away..

Yankees vs Mariners same-game parlay (SGP)

While the sample is small, it’s pretty easy to say the Yankees haven’t fixed much of the strikeout issues that have plagued them for the (checks notes) at least the last five years. 

They are averaging just under 10 over the first three games, but the whiff rate remains in the Top 5 of the league, much like it has over the past few seasons.

With that in mind and the context of Castillo at home, I paired his strikeout number with the best bet for today’s SGP.

Yankees vs Mariners SGP

• Under 7.5
• Luis Castillo Over 5.5 strikeouts

Yankees vs Mariners home run pick: Randy Arozarena (+475)

Randy Arozarena is in a good spot if he can avoid the whiff (and he’s done a good job of that so far this season). Few players on the Seattle Mariners roster hit the ball harder than him consistently, and his early-season barrel rate reeks of someone due for a bomb.

What’s particularly noteworthy about this matchup is how it lines up with the pitch mix of Weathers. He’s mostly a two-pitch thrower, and Arozarena was in the top three of Mariners players in hard-hit rate last season against the two pitches he’ll see. 

Yankees vs Mariners odds

• Moneyline: New York -110 | Seattle -110
• Run line: New York +1.5 (-225) | Seattle -1.5 (+195)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 | Under 7.5

Yankees vs Mariners trend

The Yankees have cashed the first-five moneyline in 42 of their last 70 games for +16.15 units and a 14% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Yankees vs. Mariners.

How to watch Yankees vs Mariners and game info

Yankees vs Mariners latest injuries

Yankees vs Mariners weather

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We have seen the Guardians for four games – what can we say about them?

First, let’s be clear – you can’t say much of any certainty about any baseball team until Memorial Day. And, I was convinced that the Guardians were a bad baseball team last season at the end of August because their offense was so inept… and they won 88 games and their division. So, I am not offering any full assessments on this team. It’s four, cold games across the country. There aren’t a lot of conclusions to be drawn, yet.

With that said, something that really stands out is that the Mariners were not afraid to throw the Guardians four-seam fastballs and that strategy really paid off. The Guardians saw the third most four-seam fastballs of any team in MLB this weekend and they were 23rd in wOBA at .259 and 29th in xwOBA at .234 against those fastballs. Believe me that teams will be happy to challenge Guardians’ hitters (except, perhaps, for Jose Ramirez and Chase DeLauter) with fastballs until they can show they can do significant damage on those pitches. So, time to drink some caffeine and head to the plate looking for heaters you can do some damage on, boys. It’s warm in LA; make it happen.

Meanwhile, Guardians’ pitching is currently 27th in MLB with a 5.40 batters per 9 walk rate. Thankfully, they also came out of the series 5th in MLB with a strikeout rate per 9 of 11.31 batters. Cleveland was giving up a lot of hard contact as seen by them being 20th in xFIP, so it is absolutely imperative that they decrease their walk rate, especially if they cannot find a way to more consistently miss the barrel of the bat. It certainly seemed like the Guardians’ pitchers were not comfortable on the mound and could not consistently execute their pitches. This may be an “it’s early” phenomenon, but I do think the pitching staff’s walk rate will be one of the most important metrics to follow in 2026.

Finally, it’s obvious the team had some issues defensively (mostly in the outfield) and some issues making wise ABS challenges. I hope the team offers some additional restrictions on which batters can challenge and when and where they want those challenges to take place. I think the team will continue to have some hiccups in outfield defense as players like CJ Kayfus and David Fry get used to playing out there. However, it’s important that Stephen Vogt use his bench to get ideal defensive alignments in place later in games if the team manages to get a lead.

Also… go get Travis Bazzana to play second, move Brayan Rocchio to short, and DFA Gabriel Arias already, for gosh sakes!

I am sure a variety of the issues I describe here will improve with a larger sample size to draw from, but, at the least, we have a few areas of concern to monitor in the games ahead. What are your chosen areas of greatest concern for the Guardians as of right now? Tell us in the comments below.

What we learned from the Red Sox' opening series in Cincinnati originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

After their shutout win on Opening Day, the Boston Red Sox didn’t give fans much to cheer about in their three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds.

Boston dropped Games 2 and 3 on Saturday and Sunday, falling to 1-2 on the season. Reliever Greg Weissert played a role in both losses, allowing a solo homer in Saturday’s 6-5 defeat and a three-run homer that decided Sunday’s 3-2 loss.

Weissert was far from the only player worthy of blame. Sonny Gray made a costly fielding error in his Sox debut, Jarren Duran was picked off at first in a critical situation, and offseason addition Caleb Durbin went 0-for-12 with three strikeouts, including a brutal K on a 3-0 count in the series finale.

Fortunately for the Red Sox, there are still 159 games left on the schedule. Here are five takeaways from the opening series in Cincinnati as Boston turns its attention to Houston:

1. Situational hitting still an issue

The Red Sox totaled only 10 runs in the three-game series despite having plenty of opportunities to score.

They went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position in Saturday’s 6-5 loss, then 0-for-7 with RISP on Sunday. They left 30 runners on base in total: 11 in Game 1, 10 in Game 2, and nine in Game 3.

Boston’s lineup against lefties was considered one of its biggest weaknesses heading into the season, and it didn’t do much to dispel that narrative in Cincinnati. It mustered only one extra-base hit and one run in 35 at-bats against southpaws.

The pitching staff mostly held up its end of the bargain in the series, but the Red Sox’ offense couldn’t come through when it mattered most.

2. Wilyer Abreu can hit 30-plus homers

Boston didn’t add a huge power threat to the middle of its lineup during the offseason. That could come back to bite Craig Breslow & Co., but their big bat could come in the form of Wilyer Abreu.

Abreu mashed homers on Saturday and Sunday. He has started the season 6-for-13 with two doubles, two homers, four RBI, and only one strikeout.

Abreu is blossoming into the middle-of-the-order threat the Red Sox desperately need, though he still has to prove he can hit left-handed pitching consistently.

3. Connelly Early should stay in the rotation

Red Sox rookie southpaw Connelly Early looked sharp in his season debut, allowing just one earned run with six strikeouts over 5.1 innings. His spot on the Opening Day roster was a bit of a surprise, but he showed why he belongs on the big-league roster and shouldn’t be sent back down to the minors.

It’ll be interesting to see how Boston approaches its starting rotation going forward. Johan Oviedo appeared to be the frontrunner for a rotation spot after being acquired from Pittsburgh in the offseason, but Early added to his case for a permanent role after impressing during his brief MLB stint last year.

4. Solid start for Marcelo Mayer

Mayer was a question mark entering the season due to his injury history and inconsistency at the plate. So far, so good as he went 2-for-2 on Opening Day with a pinch-hit double and two of the club’s three runs. He hit another double in Game 2 and looked smooth defensively throughout the series.

Mayer’s talent is undeniable, and his performance in the opening series was a reminder of that. He’ll look to keep it going in Houston and earn an opportunity to play more against left-handers, whom he has struggled against throughout his pro career.

5. Too many mental miscues

The Red Sox could have swept the series had it not been for a few mental mistakes, but the fundamentals were an issue just as they were for much of last year.

In Game 2, veteran right-hander Sonny Gray allowed a run to score on a bizarre fielding blunder in which he dropped the ball while attempting to tag the runner at home plate. In the eighth inning of Game 3, Jarren Duran was picked off at first base to spoil a potential rally in the one-run loss.

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The New York Mets will hit the road for the first time this season as they visit the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.

St. Louis is looking to build for the future rather than win now, and my Mets vs. Cardinals predictions expect the Redbirds to be outmatched tonight.

Let’s take a closer look at this game with my free MLB picks for Monday, March 30.

Mets vs Cardinals predictions

Mets vs Cardinals best bet: Mets -1.5 (+114)

The St. Louis Cardinals are one of the few teams pretty much admitting they’re rebuilding in 2026, with a roster designed more to develop talent than win games.

While St. Louis won two of three against the Rays to open the season, expectations remain low.

The top of the New York Mets lineup should find success against righty Kyle Leahy, with Juan Sotoboasting a career .999 OPS against right-handed pitching.

Add in the fact that Clay Holmes should give New York the pitching edge, and I like the Mets to cover the run line at plus-money.

COVERS INTEL: Clay Holmes has traditionally gotten off to fast starts to the season, going 6-2 with a 2.57 ERA and 1.140 WHIP in March and April for his career.

Mets vs Cardinals same-game parlay (SGP)

Along with taking the Mets to win tonight, I’m going to take two of their stars to make an impact on the offensive end.

Soto has already shown what he can do in the early going, hitting .357 with three RBI in New York’s opening three-game series against the Pirates.

On the other hand, Bo Bichette has struggled in his Mets debut, going just 1-for-14 so far with eight strikeouts. There’s little doubt he’ll turn things around, however, and I’m betting on the former Blue Jays star to pick up 2+ combined hits, runs, and RBI tonight.

Mets vs Cardinals SGP

• Mets -1.5
• Juan Soto Over 0.5 RBI
• Bo Bichette Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI

Mets vs Cardinals home run pick: Jorge Polanco (+600)

Jorge Polanco is only 1-for-10 to start the season, but he did flash his power during spring training, hitting two homers in 29 at-bats. And while Polanco has never been an elite slugger, he was consistent in Minnesota and Seattle over the past five years, homering at least 14 times each season and hitting 26 dingers in 2025.

Most of all, I’m backing Polanco because of the generous odds here.

Mets vs Cardinals odds

• Moneyline: New York -148 | St. Louis +126
• Run line: New York -1.5 | St. Louis +1.5
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5

Mets vs Cardinals trend

The Mets went 2-0 against the Cardinals with Holmes on the mound in 2025, covering the run line both times. Find more MLB betting trends for Mets vs. Cardinals.

How to watch Mets vs Cardinals and game info

Mets vs Cardinals latest injuries

Mets vs Cardinals weather

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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been a Colorado Rockies crusher throughout his Toronto Blue Jays career.

With Tomoyuki Sugano toeing the rubber for the visitors, my Blue Jays vs. Rockies predictions expect another big night from Vladito.

I explain further with my free MLB picks for Monday, March 30.

Rockies vs Blue Jays predictions

Rockies vs Blue Jays best bet: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Over 1.5 total bases (-105)

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has a .361 career batting average against this current Colorado Rockies pitching staff, including going 3-for-7 with a double against Tomoyuki Sugano. 

Guerrero has a .571 OBP and hasn't struck out once to start the season, but is still looking for his first extra-base hit of the year. 

Today's matchup against Sugano offers an opportunity to correct that in a big way. 

Sugano is a contact pitcher who is often hit hard. Guerrero nearly led the majors in xBA last season with a hard-hit rate in the 90th percentile.

That is a dangerous combination for a Rockies hurler who lives in the zone, misses zero bats, and never entices anyone to chase.

COVERS INTEL: Sugano is a strike thrower who pitches to contact, ranking in the fourth percentile in barrel rates and third in xBA and xERA in his first season in the majors. 

Rockies vs Blue Jays same-game parlay (SGP)

100ish words about the SGP analysis. The best bet DOES NOT need to be in the SGP.

Rockies vs Blue Jays SGP

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Over 1.5 total bases
• Tomoyuki Sugano Over 2.5 runs
• Blue Jays -1.5

Rockies vs Blue Jays home run pick: Addison Barger (+425)

Sugano was prone to giving up hard contact last season, which resulted in 33 home runs allowed.  Give me one of the Jays’ hardest hitters in the lineup, Addison Barger, to go yard today. The Jays slugger was 1-for-2 against Sugano last season with a homer, and hit 20 of his 21 long balls vs. right-handed pitchers.

Rockies vs Blue Jays odds

• Moneyline: Colorado +230 | Toronto -290
• Run line: Colorado +2.5 (-135) | Toronto -2.5 (+115)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (-105) | Under 8.5 (-115)

Rockies vs Blue Jays trend

The Toronto Blue Jays have covered the 1st Five Innings (F5) Run Line in 16 of their last 21 games (+11.05 Units / 46% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Rockies vs. Blue Jays.

How to watch Rockies vs Blue Jays and game info

Rockies vs Blue Jays latest injuries

Rockies vs Blue Jays weather

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Hey, Hi, Hello, it’s our first series preview of the 2026 season and it’s our lovable Guardians vs. the new Evil Empire Los Angeles Dodgers. Here we go.

The Guardians are 2-2 after their opening series against 2026 ALCS finalist, the Seattle Mariners. The Dodgers are 3-0 having swept their Opening Series from the Diamondbacks.

I don’t know that we can make too much of overall team numbers quite yet, so I’ll spare you the pitching and hitting rankings of the teams in these previews until we have at least 12 games to go use as a sample. So, instead, here’s the Dodger’s typical lineup:

1. Shohei Ohtani, DH
2. Kyle Tucker, RF
3. Mookie Betts, SS
4. Freddie Freeman, 1B
5. Will Smith, C
6. Max Muncy, 3B
7. Teoscar Hernandez, LF
8. Andy Pages, CF
9. Alex Freeland, 2B

Beware the curse of the former Guardian from the bench, however, as right-handed hitting Alex Call is their to come off the bench against lefties. This lineup, needless to say, is incredible. It’s an embarrassing amount of riches for one team to have. So, the bigger they are, the harder they fall, I guess.

The Dodgers’ bullpen, I think, is still probably the weakest part of their team, but it is now anchored by Edwin Diaz as closer, who is excellent, of course. So, if the game is close late, the Guardians’ need to make a move in the 7th or 8th before Diaz emerges from those bullpen doors.

Schedule:
Monday, March 30th, 10:10PM ET – Parker Messick, LHP vs. Roki Sasaki, RHP
Tuesday, March 31st, 10:10PM ET – Either Tanner Bibee or Kolby Allard or Logan Allen vs. Shohei Ohtani, RHP
Wednesday, April 1st, 8:20PM ET – Gavin Williams, RHP vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, RHP

Against the Dodgers, you have to avoid traffic on the bases, so the Guardians’ starters will need to drastically tighten up their command and issue way fewer walks than they did in Seattle. I would also say this is a series to emphasize defense that backs up a solid offensive effort. As Kayfus tries to figure out left field, I’d probably prefer to put a better defender in left than Kayfus when Kwan is in center for the time being. I am, thus, not going to complain about Angel Martinez and Daniel Schneemann getting some outfield reps in this series.

The Guardians will definitely need Steven Kwan, Kyle Manzardo, Bo Naylor and Jose Ramirez to find their footing offensively in this series to have a shot to take 2 of 3. But, it will also be a good chance for Chase DeLauter to test his phenom status against the best team in baseball.

Winning one game in this series would make for a successful series for Cleveland in my opinion. Winning two would be wildly exciting. In any case, it will be a good measuring stick moment for this team early in the 2026 campaign.

It’s never good when your collection of high-priced hitters channels the performance of the worst Phillies team the city has seen in the 21st century. And yet, after their first three games of the 2026 season, the Phils are off to their worst offensive start since 2015.

They enter their three-game series against the Washington Nationals Monday batting .186, the 4th-lowest mark in baseball, with a .292 on-base percentage (22nd) and .278 slugging percentage (26th). Their 18 hits in three games marks the first time since 2015 the Phils have failed to accumulate 20 hits in their first three games.

In case you needed reminding, those were some dark days. They hosted the Boston Red Sox to begin that season at Citizens Bank Park for a three-game series. They lost the season opener 8-0. Cole Hamels got blitzed for four runs in five innings of work, allowing four home runs in the process. The lineup for that day was cringe-inducing.

Three hits. Two walks. Nine strikeouts. Yikes.

The Phils won the second game, 4-2, behind Aaron Harang, but the bats piled up a meager six hits in the victory. A 6th inning, three-run homer by Jeff Francoeur did virtually all the damage.

The Phils then lost the rubber match, 6-2. No. 3 starter David Buchanan (we’ve come a long way, haven’t we?), lasted just three innings and allowed six runs on seven hits and four walks, allowing 11 of the 19 batters he faced to reach base. The anemic Phils lineup could produce only five hits in the third game, all of them singles.

The 2015 Phillies lost 99 games. They finished 27 games out of first place, dead last in the NL East. So no, you don’t want your World Series caliber roster compared to this combination of washed former champions, mediocre veterans and hoped-for prospects that never lived up to their potential.

Of course, the 2026 Phillies are not the 2015 Phillies. No matter how down you may be about this team’s chances of winning a World Series, there is no doubt the 26 players we saw over the weekend at the Bank are light years better than the ‘15 roster that signaled the represented the bottom of the post-2011 rebuild.

There’s little doubt the trio of Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper will improve on their 5-for-37, 12 strikeout, 3-walk opening act. They won’t go 0-for-17 on their first two trips through the lineup in their two losses over the weekend again, either.

And as we will encourage you to do throughout this Phillies season, it’s important to zoom out and see what else is happening around the league.

So yes, all the early-season caveats apply.

It’s still March. The weather is not hitter-ish. And lest we forget, a lack of power plagued the Phillies throughout the first half of last year before the warmer weather kicked in and the ball began flying around CBP again.

This is what the Phillies offense is. For better or worse, they are a streaky bunch. The additions of Adolis Garcia and Justin Crawford weren’t going to “fix” the lineups flaws. When things are going badly, it looks really bad. The same can be said for every other struggling offense. Everyone would have felt better had the bats continued their Opening Day production in Games 2 and 3, but they didn’t.

As manager Rob Thomson noted after Sunday’s 8-3 loss, the Phillies did draw eight walks on Sunday. Bryce Harper, who said he wanted to walk 140 times this year, drew two of them. Unfortunately, he also had one of his worst at-bats of a season that, admittedly, remains in its infancy. With the bases loaded and no one out in the 6th, down 6-0, Harper had a chance to put a major dent in that deficit.

He swung at the first pitch, a slider in on his hands from MacKenzie Gore. He took a 96 mph fastball up and over the heart of the plate for strike two. After a waste pitch, a high-and-away fastball out of the zone, Gore ripped off a perfectly executed slider down-and-away that Harper tipped into the catcher’s glove for strike three.

Turner hit into two double plays. Schwarber looked lost after his Opening Day dinger. Garcia chased pitches out of the zone all weekend long.

It was ugly.

It was also just one series, the first series.

So don’t confuse the 2026 Phillies for the ‘15 Phils.

But it’s OK to angrily chuckle a bit.

The Twins won the division in 2023, and appeared to be on their way to a playoff spot in 2024 before the bottom fell out and they finished with 82 wins. Things went even worse last year, and they traded away several key players, losing 92 games, their worst season since 2016.

The Royals took 7 of 13 from the Twins last year, the first time since 2021 they won the season series. The Twins have a depleted roster, but there are still some talented players left on the team. Under first-year manager Derek Shelton, they dropped two of three in Baltimore to begin the year.

Minnesota Twins (1-2) at Kansas City Royals (1-2)

Twins: 4.02 runs scored/game (26th in MLB), 3.93 runs allowed/game (4th)

Royals: 4.47 runs scored/game (13th), 4.53 runs allowed/game (20th)

Byron Buxton is super talented when he can stay on the field, which is seldom. He appeared in 126 games last year, his highest totals since 2017, putting up career highs in home runs (35), runs scored (97), and RBI (83). The Twins added Josh Bell, who is on his eighth team in seven seasons, but he has put up an above-average OPS+ in each season since 2020. In 23 career games against the Royals, Bell is a .341/.417/.588 hitter with five home runs. Luke Keaschall hit 9-for-25 (.360) with a home run against the Royals in his rookie campaign. Matt Wallner had a reverse split last year, hitting lefties better than righties.

*-All numbers from 2025

Simeon Woods Richardson ended last year strong with a 2.33 ERA in five September starts. Opponents hit just .137 against his splitter last year.

Joe Ryan set career-bests last year in innings (171), wins (13), strikeouts (194), and ERA (3.42). In 11 career starts against the Royals, he is 8-1 with a 2.02 ERA. He gave up just one hit in 5.1 scoreless innings on Opening Day in Baltimore.

Taj Bradley had a 6.61 ERA in six starts with the Twins after they acquired him from the Rays last summer. He struck out nine in 4.1 innings, allowing just three hits and one run in his 2026 debut.

The Twins traded away Jhoan Duran, Louis Varland, Griffin Jax, Brock Stewart, and Danny Coulombe in July, and their bullpen had a 4.93 ERA after the trade deadline. They brought back Taylor Rogers, a 35-year-old lefty who pitched for them from 2016 to 2021. Cole Sands had the eighth-biggest ERA to FIP gap among relievers last year. The Twins picked up Zak Kent off waivers, and Anthony Banda and Eric Orze in minor trades.

The Twins can still lean on a few impact bats (no more Ty France!) and some quality arms at the top of the rotation, but the bullpen is not what it was a year ago. Minnesota has been a tough opponent for the Royals for several years, but this is a home series Kansas City should take.

The 1970s were a pivotal time for baseball labor relations and player negotiating power, that decade bringing about the end of the reserve clause and the advent of free agency. There are several trailblazing names associated with that movement, chief among them Curt Flood. But nearly as important in terms of setting a precedent to move bargaining rights forward was a lesser-known pitcher by the name of Dick Woodson.

Richard Lee “Dick” Woodson
Born: March 30, 1945 (Oelwein, IA)
Yankees Tenure: 1974

Richard Lee “Dick” Woodson was born on March 30, 1945, in Iowa, before his family moved to San Diego in advance of high school. He attended Crawford High, the six-foot-five righty then attending college to play basketball. However, a falling out with the head coach led Woodson to try out for the baseball team while making a decision on whether he would switch schools. His pitching performances caught the eye of Twins western regional scout Dick Wiencek, who offered to sign him as an amateur free agent prior to the 1965 season. At the time, Woodson was told that the organization could not afford to pay him a salary, however Wiencek offered three incentives of $500 dollars each if Woodson could remain on the Double-A, Triple-A, and major league rosters for at least 90 days each.

Woodson snapped up the offer and pitched four seasons in the Twins’ minor league system, rising to Triple-A by the end of 1968. This attracted the attention of a rookie manager in Minnesota by the name of Billy Martin, who invited Woodson to spring training in 1969. Woodson credits his first big-league skipper for believing in him when few others did:

“My next biggest thrill (to being signed) was doing well enough that Billy Martin had extreme faith in me and over Calvin Griffiths’ objections, took me to the big leagues. I will forever be beholden to Billy for having that kind of faith and even though Calvin Griffith was so against it and he still took me and that was Billy’s way and giving me that chance to get into the big leagues.”

Woodson broke camp with the big league team and made his MLB debut on Opening Day, April 8, 1969. Entering in relief of Joe Grzenda with the bases loaded in the 12th inning against the Royals at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City, Woodson surrendered the walk-off single to lose, 4-3. He made 44 appearances (10 starts) on the year, going 7-5 with a 3.67 ERA (101 ERA+) and 66 strikeouts in 110.1 innings. In the first year of MLB divisional play, the Twins finished first in the AL West to earn a date against the Orioles in the inaugural American League Championship Series. They got swept in three games, Woodson coming on in relief of starter Bob Miller with two outs in the second inning of Game 3. Woodson allowed two runs on three hits and three walks as the Twins’ season ended with an 11-2 loss. Martin wouldn’t survive the year, as disputes with ownership led to his firing despite the success — a portent of things to come in his managerial career.

An injury in 1970 limited Woodson to just 21 relief appearances, the second-year pitcher logging a 3.82 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 30.2 innings. He nonetheless earned a spot on the postseason roster as the Twins once again won the division for a rematch with the Orioles in the ALCS. Once again, the Twins were swept in three games, Woodson entering Game 1 in the fifth with the Twins losing, 9-3, and giving up a run on two hits and a walk as Minnesota lost, 10-6.

With Twins owner Calvin Griffith looking for ways to suppress payroll in 1971, Woodson spent the entirety of the 1971 season at Triple-A, where he “made $500 a month for five months and then after that you had to go out and get what they called a real job because we were considered seasonal workers.” He earned his way back to the major-league team in 1972 and forced his way into the rotation, where he would post the best season of his career. Woodson placed second behind teammate and future Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven in most pitching categories, going 14-14 in 36 starts with a 2.72 ERA (119 ERA+), three complete game shutouts, and 150 strikeouts in 251.2 innings, though the Twins missed the playoffs after finishing third.

1973 saw Woodson retain his spot in the rotation after contentious offseason negotiations over salary, Griffith offering the league minimum under the justification that it represented a $2,000 raise over what Woodson made in the minors in 1971. Woodson demanded a raise, but the noted skinflint Griffith — whom people joked “threw around nickels like manhole covers,” — told Woodson that he could take the offer or “go and carry a lunch bucket,” and thus he was forced to play for that salary or sit out the season and hope to be traded or released given free agency had not yet come into effect. Woodson pitched in 1973 for $15,000, going 10-8 in 23 starts with a 3.95 ERA (100 ERA+) and 53 strikeouts in 141.1 innings as the Twins missed the playoffs again.

That brought Woodson to the 1974 season and his groundbreaking moment in MLB labor history. Even though Curt Flood lost his Supreme Court in his fight to end the reserve clause, the landmark case set the wheels in motion for players to have more agency over whom they played for. Woodson filed for a $30,000 salary for the 1974 season while the Twins countered at $23,000. Woodson was advised to take the case to an arbitration hearing, but the pitcher claimed he could not afford an attorney at his $15,000 salary from the year prior.

Former executive director of the MLBPA Marvin Miller had been waiting to find the perfect player to represent in a slam-dunk arbitration hearing. In Woodson’s words he was “hand-picked by Marvin Miller because [he] was the poster child of the most abused in Major League Baseball as far as contract negotiations.” The Twins focused their argument around the team’s revenue projections for the upcoming season, arguing that “due to the raising price of gasoline, they couldn’t afford to give Woodson a raise as they were expecting lower attendance.” The arbitrator ruled in favor of Woodson and awarded him the requested $30,000 salary after comparing him to similar pitchers who were making between $50,000 and $55,000. Thus, Woodson made history as the first player in MLB to win an arbitration hearing under the new collective bargaining agreement, breaking the ice for a further 28 players to pursue arbitration that spring.

However, Griffith publicly swore that he would never pay Woodson his awarded salary, and traded the pitcher a month into the season to the Yankees for pitcher Mike Pazik and cash. Woodson had a 4.33 ERA in five appearances at the time of the trade, but things turned south upon his arrival in the Bronx. He made just eight appearances (three starts) in pinstripes, his ERA inflating to 5.79 in 28 innings before an injury ended his season. Those would be the final innings he would pitch in the majors, the Yankees trading him to the Braves at the conclusion of the season.

Woodson struggled to the tune of a 6.75 ERA in 21 Triple-A appearances, leading to his release and signing for the Rangers on a minor league deal. However, he was swiftly cut again after giving up 12 runs on 17 hits in nine innings, Woodson retiring at the age of 30 at the end of the season. He worked as a salesman for 30 years before retiring for a second time to California, settling an hour and a half from Los Angeles in Menifee.

Dick Woodson was once a promising young pitcher in a dangerous Twins rotation alongside future Hall of Famers Blyleven and Jim Kaat. Injury and disagreements with his owner prevented him from fulfilling his potential after his breakout 1972 campaign, leading to an unremarkable eight-game stint with the Yankees. However, he will always be one of the most important names in the early labor battles that shaped free agency as we know it today.

References

Dick Woodson. Baseball-Reference.

Dick Woodson. Baseball Almanac.

Swol, John J. “A Chat with Dick Woodson.” Twins Trivia.

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

After an unideal opening series against the Rangers, the Phillies will get their first look at a National League East opponent this season. And in what is hopefully good news, it’s the NL East opponent that most pundits expect will finish last in the division.

Washington Nationals

Record: 2-1 (Second place in National League East)

The last time they met

The Phillies hosted the Nats in late August 2025 and took two out of three games. It would have been a sweep if not for a blown save by Jhoan Duran in the opening game.

What’s the deal with the Nationals?

After winning the World Series in 2019, things quickly fell apart for the Nationals. Star players like Trea Turner, Max Scherzer, and Anthony Rendon left the team, and Stephen Strasburg’s arm fell apart seemingly seconds after signing a lucrative extension.

Of course, we all know what really sparked the downfall of the Nats:

The Nats began to rebuild, but it generally isn’t a good sign when the team decides to fire the general manager a few years into the rebuilding process, as the Nats did with Mike Rizzo last summer. The Nats’ ownership group seemed to think that Rizzo was behind the times in terms of analytics and player development methodology. Rizzo seemed to think the Nats’ owners were cheap and should have done more to retain their stars. Because failure usually has multiple authors, they’re probably both correct.

Where does that leave the Nats now? They’re very young, without a regular player in the lineup over 30, and most are under 27. While that gives the Nats some hope for the future, it doesn’t do all that much for their chances in 2026. Most projections have them being one of the worst teams in baseball.

I have a friend who is a Nats fan, and he says he can barely identify anyone in the lineup.

Featured player: James Wood

In 2022, the Nationals realized they weren’t going to be able to sign outfielder Juan Soto to an extension and traded him to the Padres for what looked like an impressive haul of prospects.

However, they’ve already jettisoned one of the key pieces from that trade in MacKenzie Gore (based on yesterday, that might have been a mistake), and they’ve made it known that shortstop C.J. Abrams is also available for the right price. (Buckle up, Nats fans: If a 25-year-old isn’t deemed to be in your “contention window,” you’re probably not going to be seeing the playoffs any time soon.)

At last year’s All-Star break, the Nats probably thought that outfielder James Wood would be part of that window. The 23-year-old hit 24 home runs in the first half and looked like a burgeoning star. But his star fell considerably in the second half, with a .690 OPS and just seven post-break home runs.

That performance has carried over to 2026. After a poor showing in Spring Training, he’s off to an awful start to the season. He’s 1-13 (with the one hit being a home run) with seven strikeouts.

Obviously, this is a miniscule sample size, and player development is often non-linear. But, considering he’s their best hope to get a long-term building block out of the Soto trade, this has to be dismaying for the Nationals.

Remembering a guy who used to play for the Nationals

The Nationals first made the playoffs in 2012. In game five of that season’s NLDS, they were three outs away from beating the Cardinals and advancing to the next round. Closer Drew Storen was brought in to protect a two-run lead. But with two outs, Storen walked two straight batters and then allowed consecutive singles in a four-run inning that allowed the Cardinals to emerge victorious.

What about the Phillies?

I don’t know why I get surprised every year by baseball fans overreacting to any given regular season series. The Phillies didn’t look great for most of the weekend, but after three (of 162!) games, they are 1-2 with one loss coming in extra innings. I don’t know how any sweeping conclusions could possibly be made from that sample size.

And for the “Why would you expect different results when they just ran it back?” crowd, can I remind you that the team won 96 games last year? And as for the biggest potential move that they could have made this winter:

Pennant year song battle

In somewhat of an upset, Here We Are Again beat out Ghost. Either people really enjoy early 1900’s British music, or you couldn’t bring yourself to vote for Justin Bieber. (I suspect it’s the latter.)

Per suggestion, the next contender is Everybody Wants You – Billy Squier, 1983

Vote for the winner and leave any suggestions for the next contender in the comments!

Closing thought

If people are already panicking after three games, I hate to think what would happen if the Phillies lost a series at home to the Nats. And if Andrew Painter – scheduled to make his major league debut on Tuesday – should happen to struggle, then we could see a real “sky is falling” situation around these parts.

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The Angels face their second opponent of the season tonight, traveling to Wrigley Field to open a three-game series against the Cubs. 

The Angels surprised many with back-to-back wins to open the season. While the front-line talent may be improved in Los Angeles, the Angels showed that depth in the pitching staff is an issue, giving up 20 runs over the next two games.

My Angels vs. Cubs predictions and MLB picks are calling for the Chicago bats to hit their stride en route to a win on Monday, March 30.

Angels vs Cubs predictions

Angels vs Cubs best bet: Cubs -1.5 (+104)

The Chicago Cubs hit three homers on Sunday after plating 10 runs in Saturday’s win over Washington. Four of Chicago’s five dingers this season have been solo shots, but I think we'll see more table-setting from the Cubs’ offense tonight.

Los Angeles Angels SP Ryan Johnson is a former reliever making his first MLB start above Class A. Four of his six spring appearances were in relief, so that doesn’t indicate a long outing from him.

The Angels' bullpen has allowed 11 runs over 7 1/3 innings across the last two games. 

COVERS INTEL: Ian Happ has made contact with seven balls this season. Five of them have qualified as “hard hit,” and three were barreled up.

Angels vs Cubs same-game parlay (SGP)

Two of three Cubs games this year have seen a team plate 10+ runs on their own, and the nine-run mark has been hit by a team three times in the Angels' four games. 

Chicago starts Edward Cabrera, who had a career year with the Marlins last season. However, he had a 7.47 ERA and 1.532 WHIP in Spring Training while seeing his strikeout rate drop. 

Ian Happ homered on Sunday and has a .978 OPS on the young season. Johnson allowed 14.7 hits and 2.5 homers per nine innings last season, so Happ could continue to tee off. 

Angels vs Cubs SGP

• Cubs -1.5 
• Over 9.5 
• Ian Happ Over 0.5 RBI

Angels vs Cubs home run pick: Mike Trout (+240)

Is he back? He just might be.

Mike Trout hit .462 with two homers and 1.573 OPS in his first series of 2026. He’s reached base twice in three plate appearances against Cabrera, who throws a fast (87th percentile on velocity last year) but hittable four-seamer.

Trout has not missed a fastball yet this season, and both of his home runs were off of that pitch.  

Angels vs Cubs odds

• Moneyline: Los Angeles +164 | Chicago -196
• Run line: Los Angeles +1.5 | Chicago -1.5
• Over/Under: Over 9.5 | Under 9.5

Angels vs Cubs trend

The Cubs have hit the moneyline in 42 of their last 64 games at home. Find more MLB betting trends for Angels vs. Cubs.

How to watch Angels vs Cubs and game info

Angels vs Cubs latest injuries

Angels vs Cubs weather

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Last baseball season, torpedo bats (remember those?) stole the show on opening weekend. They were all anyone could talk about.

But time – and technology – marches on. So what do we have dominating the discourse after the first series of games in 2026? ABS challenges, of course!

If the idea is to get the important balls and strikes calls correct, we’re off to a good start. Except for Twins manager Derek Shelton, who was tossed from a game on Sunday, March 29, for arguing an overturned Ball 4.

That incident sparked a memorable call from Orioles TV announcer Kevin Brown, who exclaimed: "He’s arguing with the robots! You can’t defeat the robots!!"

Twins manager Derek Shelton was LIVID as he argued that Ryan Helsley didn't challenge this call fast enough pic.twitter.com/NnsgUb3iap

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) March 29, 2026

Meanwhile, fantasy baseball managers are waging their own battles with technology as the season gets rolling. Are my projections on target? Is this guy’s hot start a fact or fluke? Why didn’t the computer give my top waiver pickup? In the search for just a fraction of the clarity ABS provides, it’s time to recognize how easy it is to overreact to the small samples of the early season. Our annual Tuffy Awards shine a spotlight on the lesser-known players off to hot starts who will raise fantasy managers’ expectations, and then predictably return to a near-replacement level of production. The inspiration for the awards is unheralded Chicago Cubs outfielder Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes, who hit three home runs off Dwight Gooden on opening day in 1994.

Fantasy teams who grabbed Rhodes off the waiver wire saw him hit .234 with five home runs from that point forward.

So with a mix of caution and skepticism, we begin our quest to uncover this year’s Tuffy.

Sal Stewart hit 5 homers for the Cincinnati Reds once called upon for the stretch run of the 2025 season, and he backed it up with a pair of hits (and 4 RBI) in Cincinnati’s brief postseason play against the Los Angeles Dodgers. People saw him. People became aware of him. The brash rookie in Cincinnati looked ‘ready’ to be a big leaguer, but none of it shot him up to the elite echelon of Top 100 prospect lists, or anything.

After how last season ended, people thought he was a big leaguer.

After the first weekend of the 2026 season, people are beginning to think he may alter the entire franchise’s direction.

Sal eyed up a Boston Red Sox pitching staff that had been revamped with elite arms all winter and mowed right through them with nary an overlooked PA. He went 7 for 10 with 3 doubles, a homer, 3 walks, and not a single strikeout as Cincinnati won 2 of 3 in Great American Ball Park, even putting his stamp on the ball on pitches that should have otherwise tied him up completely.

He mastered lefty ace Garrett Crochet. That clip above is him manhandling precisely the pitch that Sonny Gray – who Reds fans know quite well – wanted him to swing at. Sal, as of this morning, sits atop MLB leaderboards in wOBA, wRC+, rOBA, OPS+, and OBP, among many others.

It’s an impossibly small sample size, yes. If he’d not made his big league debut last fall and this was all we’d ever had to see of him at the big league level, this outbreak would merely be filed next to Jason Vosler and Austin Wynns in the annals of Great Starts to Seasons. But, if we stretch our world view back to when Sal first hit the scene on September 1st of 2025, it’s beginning to look like ‘atop the leaderboards’ is precisely where we should expect to find him.

Among the 297 players who have logged at least 50 PA since 9/1/25, Sal’s .443 wOBA ranks 8th best, right ahead of Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez, ahead of New York Mets star Juan Soto (.419), and just a hair behind a guy in 6th place on that list named Shohei Ohtani (.458). His 1.042 OPS ranks 9th, his .338 ISO 6th.

These aren’t fluky numbers, either, as he’s been hitting the absolute snot out of the ball. His 96.2 EV in that time ranks 3rd (behind only Washington’s James Wood and New York Mets slugger Aaron Judge), while his 56.0% hard-hit % ranks 15th out of that 297 player group. His expected batting average and expected slugging percentage both also track with his actual numbers – meaning it’s not as if he’s lucking into this productions – and the end result is an expected wOBA (xwOBA) of .442 in that time.

That’s 4th best in all of baseball, right ahead of Mike Trout (.426), Ronald Acuña, Jr. (.425), and Juan Soto (.423), while trailing only Judge, Seattle’s Dominic Canzone, and Ohtani. That’s as elite as it gets, isn’t it?

As with any player, there will be ebbs and flows to this kind of production. Believe it or not, Sal did go 0 for 4 with a strikeout in his penultimate start in 2025 against the Pirates, for example. Still, as the sample size begins to grow, it’s looking more and more like that polished, impressive hitter we’ve seen all the way through the minors might actually be that good as a big leaguer, too, or perhaps – he’s still just 22 years old – even better.

He’s certainly making the case right now that he’s not the bat who’s job it should be to ‘protect’ Elly De La Cruz in the lineup. He’s the bat who’s about to need some protecting, since I don’t think we’re going to go too much longer with pitching staffs simply trying to rear back and chuck it by the rookie to see what he’s made of.

Maybe I’m just dating myself, or simply putting the cart impossibly far in front of the horse, but it’s enough to make the brain recall a similar start to a pair of careers in Cincinnati – one featuring a consensus top prospect in the game who had all the tools and a swing that may have ended up being the slightest bit too free and another, slightly overlooked 1B whose mastery of the strike zone ended up propelling him up offensive leaderboards from the moment he stepped to the plate.

Not to shoehorn one, both, or either into those archtypes, but it certainly has made my brain do some comparisons over the last few days. We did get a pair of NL Central titles out of that run, too.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Payton Tolle already showed his MLB potential last summer with an electric Fenway Park debut and meaningful innings for the Red Sox in a playoff push. 

To start 2026, Tolle finds himself in a much lower-stress environment on the mound. The 2024 second-round pick got thrown into emergency circumstances for several starts with a plethora of starting pitching injuries last year. But Boston upgraded the rotation with the offseason additions of Ranger Suarez, Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo. Those moves took the pressure off arms like Tolle and Connelly Early, who now have time to improve their big-league arsenals as depth starters rather than immediate pillars of the rotation. Early got the nod for the Opening Day roster and got the ball for Boston’s series finale in Cincinnati against the Reds. Tolle returned to Triple-A Worcester and also made his first start of 2026 Sunday afternoon. 

“I think it’s always just getting ready to go, getting ready to compete,” Tolle said at WooSox Media Day on Thursday. “Because then once the first one starts, it just keeps rolling and I’m excited to get it going, get it started. Because that offseason can get long sometimes. It was the fastest one that I’ve ever had but it feels like I’m ready to go.”

Tolle certainly looked ready to go with two strikeouts in his first inning of work against the Syracuse Mets dialing up his impressive fastball to 97 MPH. That hot start cooled off as Syracuse tagged him for six runs (four earned) in four innings of work, though he did strike out six hitters with 11 swings-and-misses. 

His future as a big-league starter revolves around the ability to deepen his arsenal and find legitimate out-pitches among his secondaries. The fastball is real. The lefty knows what he has to show to take the next step. 

“I think that it’s definitely come a long way,” Tolle shared. “We now have five pitches that I feel confident in throwing. It’s now just finding the locations of it. I’m not really searching for the grips anymore. I think all the pitches are in where they need to be metrics-wise, and now it’s just trying to get them over the plate, having good misses, putting them where I need to be. So I feel more like a complete pitcher.than I did last year because last year it exposed very early that all I got was a fastball. So I’m excited about it.”

Tolle certainly didn’t lack voices around him at spring training to learn from, whether in the general flow of pitching or in picking the brains of veterans who can spin the baseball. 

“I think it was incredible to be able to have (Garrett) Crochet and Sonny (Gray), great guys to learn from,” Tolle said. “Talking to Sonny, like, you talk to guys that have been there, done that, had a ton of success, are able to do it as long as they have. Danny Columbe, another great one, (Garrett) Whitlock, like, we have a bunch of good guys that like talking about baseball and like answering our questions and having that is amazing to young guys like myself. Everybody being able to talk to guys. Me and (Tayron) Guerrero would call (Aroldis) Chapman ‘Sensei.’ We’re excited about it. I feel like it’s a good spot. I think the dynamic of the locker room is really good.” 

The Red Sox will surely count on Tolle in a big way through stretches of this season. Even with that reality, he’s nowhere near a finished product. There are going to be ups and downs, such as the scuffles against Syracuse Sunday afternoon. 

His responsibilities in 2026? Be ready when your number is called, but don’t be too hard on the ups and downs of the process. 

“But I tried to take a step back every day, every night after. Like, ‘OK, what did we do today?’” Tolle explained. “It was good. What did we do today that we can learn from? Because if you just focus on the bad, it’s not going to go very well. Just, ‘what can I learn from, how can I make this take us to the next step?’ Most of that was just something simple, I just need to get my curveball to the floor. We were a little bit low with the heater today, we got to get that up top more. It was trying to be simple with it.”