Category: MLB

The San Francisco Giants welcome the New York Mets to Oracle Park tonight to begin a four-game series.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be left-hander Robbie Ray, who finished the 2025 season with a 3.65 ERA, 3.93 FIP, with 186 strikeouts to 73 walks in 182.1 innings pitched. His first start this season was in the Giants’ 3-0 loss to the New York Yankees on Friday, in which he allowed two runs on five hits with four strikeouts in five and a third innings.

He’ll be facing off against the Mets left-hander David Peterson, who finished the 2025 season with a 4.22 ERA, 3.48 FIP, with 150 strikeouts to 65 walks in 168.2 innings pitched. His first start this season was in the Mets’ 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, in which he allowed six hits with three strikeouts and two walks in five and a third innings pitched.

Lineups

Giants

1. Willy Adames — SS
2. Rafael Devers — DH
3. Heliot Ramos — LF
4. Luis Arráez — 2B
5. Matt Chapman — 3B
6. Jung Hoo Lee — RF
7. Harrison Bader — CF
8. Daniel Susac — C
9. Casey Schmitt — 1B

LHP. Robbie Ray

Mets

1. Francisco Lindor — SS
2. Juan Soto — LF
3. Bo Bichette — 3B
4. Jorge Polanco — DH
5. Luis Robert Jr. — CF
6. Mark Vientos — 1B
7. Marcus Semien — 2B
8. Francisco Alvarez — C
9. Tyrone Taylor — RF

LHP. David Peterson

Game #7

Who: San Francisco Giants (2-4) vs. New York Mets (3-3)

Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California

When: 6:45 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: MLB Network

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

The Royals will call up Luinder Avila from Omaha to start Friday’s game against the Brewers, according to MLB.com reporter Anne Rogers. Michael Wacha was originally scheduled to start on Friday, but will be pushed back due to illness. Avila was scheduled to start Omaha’s game tonight, but was scratched and replaced by Ethan Bosacker. The team has yet to announce the move, but Steven Cruz seems like a good bet to be sent down after he pitched on back-to-back days and gave up three home runs in an inning of work in a 5-1 loss on Thursday.

Luinder Avila appeared in 13 games with the Royals last year, giving up just two runs with 16 strikeouts in 14 innings for an ERA of 1.29. The Royals sent him to the minors to keep him stretched out as a starter. He started the first game for Omaha, and he gave up two runs in three innings with three strikeouts.

Avila is ranked as the #9 prospect in the Royals’ farm system by MLB Pipeline. He throws from a high angle, and tends to induce a lot of groundballs. His curveball had a 48 percent whiff rate in limited big league action. He was also impressive in the World Baseball Classic, throwing 4.1 innings and allowing just one unearned run for Team Venezuela.

The Royals list Seth Lugo to start the Saturday game with Kris Bubic to start on Sunday. The Royals begin a three-game series in Cleveland on Monday.

The “boys in blue” will take on a literal meaning this year.

On Thursday, the Dodgers announced they are introducing a new blue uniform into their regular road rotation.

The new jerseys follow the team’s traditional template, featuring their iconic red numbers on the front and a cursive “Los Angeles” script across the chest.

It marks the first time in team history they will wear blue uniforms on the road.

Blue uniforms have been used at home in the past, but not since the team’s original “Los Dodgers” city connect jerseys were replaced by their new moon-colored iteration.

Previously, the Dodgers had rotated between two gray uniforms on the road — one that said “Los Angeles” and another that said “Dodgers.”

The new edition will be accented in gray, used for the sleeve piping and an outline on the numbers.

Dodger Blue.

For the first time in history, the Dodgers will be wearing a blue jersey as part of their regular uniform rotation on the road. pic.twitter.com/ce3EVFVJTd

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 3, 2026

Another new feature: A “Dodgers” cursive script logo is on the sleeve, replacing the usual “LA” logo.

On the other sleeve, the Dodgers’ Guggenheim sponsor patch will also be displayed.

Rumors about a new blue uniform had been floating around in recent weeks, after pictures of the jersey were leaked online.

Now, it’s official — though the team did not announce when the jersey will make its debut.

The Dodgers begin their first road trip of the season on Friday, with a three-game series against the Washington Nationals.

Reynaldo López and the Braves are looking for their third consecutive series-opening win against Ryne Nelson and the Diamondbacks. More on the pitching matchup here and today’s lineups here. First pitch is scheduled for 9:40 pm ET. 

We are entering real sicko hours (for us on the East Coast). But unfortunately for me, seeing Wiley Ballard take on each ballpark’s Crazy Food Item is appointment viewing. Chase Field debuted the “Take Me Out to the Ballgame Shake”: salted caramel shake, whipped cream, peanut butter sandwich cookies, Kit Kat Bars and Cracker Jacks.

“Shake Me Out to the Ballgame” was right there, but if you disagree, let us know in the comments.

The D-back seek to get to a four-game winning streak. Modest, but that is something they only did once before June last year, winning five in a row from April 12-17. After Zac Gallen successfully righted the ship yesterday, following a shaky first outing, Kyle Ryne Nelson will seek to follow suit tonight. Meanwhile, social media has got the pitchforks out for a line-up not including Jose Fernandez. Sigh.

Anyway, short intro today, for work reasons. Should have a bit more time tomorrow. See you then!

Mets lineup

1. Francisco Lindor – SS
2. Juan Soto – LF
3. Bo Bichette – 3B
4. Jorge Polanco – DH
5. Luis Robert – CF
6. Mark Vientos – 1B
7. Marcus Semien – 2B
8. Francisco Alvarez – C
9. Tyrone Taylor – RF

David Peterson – LHP

Giants lineup

1. Willy Adames – SS
2. Rafael Devers – DH
3. Heliot Ramos – LF
4. Luis Arraez – 2B
5. Matt Chapman – 3B
6. Jung Hoo Lee – RF
7. Harrison Bader – CF
8. Daniel Susac – C
9. Casey Schmitt – 1B

Robbie Ray – LHP

Broadcast info

First pitch: 9:45 PM ET
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2

/pattern

The Long Island Ducks are “excited” to offer former Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer the “platform” to potentially return to Major League Baseball, team president Michael Pfaff told The Post Thursday night after the club announced the signing of the right-hander.

“What I would say is that all decisions are team decisions. Everybody has a voice in the room,” Pfaff said. “And what we looked at is a 10-year Major League veteran who is a Cy Young Award winner, who is eligible to return to Major League Baseball. And is desirous of using the same path so many have used before him, with the Long Island Ducks, to get back to Major League Baseball.

“So we’re excited to offer him this showcase and this platform. We’re going to work hard and he’s going to work hard to make sure that it turns out well for everyone.”

PLAYER SIGNING

10-year @MLB veteran and 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner @BauerOutage is the newest member of the Ducks! He is currently slated to serve as the our opening night starter on Tuesday, April 21st!

: https://t.co/VLUwmEcLBmpic.twitter.com/gdoBU6Pcyp

— Long Island Ducks (@LIDucks) April 2, 2026

The addition of Bauer comes with its fair share of controversy after he was hit with sexual assault allegations in 2021, though he was never criminally charged.

He was suspended by MLB for 194 games for violating the league’s domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. 

Pfaff told The Post that the reaction the signing has “been really positive so far.” 

The Ducks are handing the opening night start to Bauer when they face the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars on April 21 in Central Islip. 

“He has a very good idea of what he wants to do and he asked the question about what our vision of his usage might be, and when we put opening day in front of him, he did not hesitate,” the Ducks executive said. “He said he’d be ready and our focus is to get him ready for that.” 

The Ducks open their spring training on April 10 and the club is anticipating him reporting at the start of camp. 

As part of the Ducks’ announcement, the organization said Bauer would be mic’d up for all games and practices to create content for his personal social media and the team’s. 

Bauer hasn’t pitched in an MLB game since June 28, 2021.

Following his release from the Dodgers in 2023, the former MLB All-Star has played in Japan and Mexico in hopes of reviving his career. 

A number of former major leaguers have gone through Central Islip in the hope of one final shot at the MLB, including ex-Met Daniel Murphy, Dontrelle Willis, Eric Gagne and Rich Hill.

Firebrand closing pitcher John Rocker famously attempted a comeback in 2005 with the Ducks. 

Pfaff said Bauer had a number of opportunities in Japan, Mexico and with other Atlantic League teams. 

“He chose Long Island because we have proveably been the best showcase for players like him to get signed by MLB and MLB clubs, and that’s his goal. His goal here is to see if he can get another chance in Major League Baseball and we’re going to provide him that showcase,” he said.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza spoke to the media before the team's series-opener against the Giants on Thursday and spoke about a number of topics...

When to deploy Sean Manaea

Manaea's role on the 2026 Mets is still in flux. He broke camp with the team, but as a part of the bullpen as a piggyback for the other starters. After six games, he's appeared just once and Mendoza was asked about when the right time is for him to deploy the southpaw.

"Ideally, I would like to find a spot for him where we could use a lot of his pitches," Mendoza said. "Especially with a lot of the extra-inning games we’ve played here…we’ve asked the bullpen to get an extra 15 outs. That’s a lot. With Sean, the perfect scenario would be to use all of his pitches when we need to."

The Mets have played three extra-inning games already and with their next off day not until Monday, it's probably safe to say we'll see Manaea some time in this four-game set with the Giants.

Mendoza and the Mets have said that they want to keep Manaea stretched out while in the bullpen if they need him to make a start, and the Mets skipper gave the parameters on how he ideally wants that to look. 

In order for Manaea to use all of this pitches, as Mendoza prefers, he needs to have the southpaw throw 50-60 pitches, but admits that it's hard to cut out time for that in the midst of game action.

"You go in, have a gameplan…you still got to make adjustments," Mendoza said. "We just got to wait and let it play out."

In Manaea's only appearance this season (March 29 vs. Pirates), he tossed 29 pitches across 1.1 innings, allowing one hit while walking two batters. 

Mets' DH situation

Jorge Polanco is starting again as the team's DH. This is the fourth game in a row that Polanco will not play the field due to a sore Achilles. 

Mendoza said that Polanco is close to playing first base again, but acknowledges that the DH spot is important to his team's composition, especially getting other players regular chances at the plate.

"Wanted to give [Polanco] an extra day. Continues to feel better, continues to progress," Mendoza said. "I might need the DH spot in the upcoming days for some of the other guys. That’s why I’m taking advantage of an extra day here to DH."

One of those guys is Mark Vientos. While Vientos is playing first base for the second consecutive game, the right-handed slugger has had little at-bats in the early part of the season.

Entering Thursday, Vientos is 2-for-5 on the season with a double. Although the opportunities haven't been there in the first week of the season, Mendoza says that Vientos has adjusted well to his role and continues to stay ready just like the other bench players who find themselves in the same position.

"He knows there’s going to be opportunities there even when he's not playing," Mendoza said. "Perfect examples is the past couple of days when Brett Baty hasn't been in the lineup in a game, like Yesterday he ended up getting three at-bats. The night before, he gets two, so it could happen to Mark even though their name is not on the starting lineup, that doesn't mean they're not going to impact the game. ..there's a lot of different things that could continue to help us win baseball game and that's part of the role, and they all understand that."

Carson Benge so far

Benge made his MLB debut a week ago and after the high of homering in his first game with the Mets, the young outfielder has had his ups and downs in the early going.

He's played in six games, started five, for the Mets so far and is 3-for-19 on the season. Mendoza was asked what he's seen out of Benge at the plate so far.

"He’s adjusting, learning. He’s learning as he goes, and that’s part of the development," Mendoza said. "He’s going to get some at-bats where there’s going to be traffic. Yesterday, I decided to go with the left-on-left instead of the left-on-right. It’s part of the process. We gotta continue to support him, be right there with him and give him opportunities."

 With the left-hander Robbie Ray starting on Thursday, Benge is on the bench for the series-opener.

You snooze, you lose.

Royals rookie Carter Jensen was scratched from their lineup shortly before their 5-1 loss to the Twins on Thursday after oversleeping and not arriving at Kauffman Stadium with enough time to get prepped for the game.

“Carter had an oversight,” manager Matt Quatraro told reporters following the game, according to MLB.com. “Overslept. Wasn’t here on time, and we made the decision to scratch him from the lineup. … He’s a stand-up guy, a really hard worker, a great kid. He feels terrible. He’s accountable to it.

“It’s not something that has been a pattern or any of that kind of stuff. Nobody feels worse than he does, and I think he’ll admit to that. And we’ll move on.”

Jensen, who was slated to catch, was replaced by Royals veteran Salvador Perez behind the plate, who was initially set to be the designated hitter. The 22-year-old later came in to catch in the ninth inning.

To his credit, Jensen owned up to the mistake, telling reporters that he woke up in “full panic” and tried to get to the field as soon as possible.

“No running from it,” Jensen said. “Just didn’t wake up to my alarm. Slept through it. Don’t really have an excuse, nor should I. It sucks. Happens. I felt like I let my teammates down, coaches down. Just learn from it and know it won’t happen again.”

With Jensen arriving late, the Royals had to lean on Perez to prep with starting pitcher Cole Ragans.

“You got a 36-year-old catcher preparing to DH today, and then his world gets a little rocked an hour and a half before the game that he’s not going to be DHing,” first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said. “Credit to Salvy today for being ready, first and foremost.”

Jensen admitted that there was “a lot” to learn from his blunder, saying that he will be setting “a million alarms” to get up early for day games.

“There’s a lot to learn from it. Making sure if I don’t set one alarm, maybe set three, four, as many as possible,” Jensen said. “Moving forward, that’s what I’m going to do. Set a million alarms. Make sure I’m up. It stinks, though.”

Jensen is Kansas City’s top prospect, according to MLB.com, and briefly saw the big-league diamond last year, when he put up an impressive slash line of .300/.391/.550, with six doubles and three home runs in 20 games.

One week — and one West Coast trip — into the season, the Yankees return to The Bronx for today’s home opener with a few things fairly clear: Their rotation — even without the injured Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt — appears formidable. And Ben Rice could be the left-handed offensive force they’ve been searching for.

For a team that was surrounded by the phrase “Running it back,’’ things are off to a promising start.

Here’s a look at the key questions entering the season and how they have unfolded through the first six games, leaving the Yankees 5-1.

Can Rice handle first base? 

After starting 41 games at first for the Yankees in 2024, Rice was in the lineup there 46 times last season. But the Yankees made clear they are all in on him at the spot this season, with Paul Goldschmidt expected to be limited to starts against left-handers, and even then, Rice should get more at-bats versus lefties in ’26.

The power has never been in question for Rice, but the Yankees were looking for more consistency.

So far, Rice has provided it.

His walk rate has jumped and strikeouts dropped, and as one AL scout noted, Rice hasn’t hit the ball in the air much this season.

While Rice hit into some bad luck in ’25, as his expected numbers were higher than the ones he posted — which is why the Yankees were optimistic for more growth at the plate — he’s making up for at least some of that misfortune in the early part of this year.

Where there remains disagreement is on defense.

Rice showed improvement at first base last year and has again this season — especially in decision-making — but his footwork can be clunky.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

“I’d be more worried about his glove if I didn’t think he could be such a threat at the plate, but he keeps getting better,’’ the scout said. “And I think he can at least be average defensively. If he’s hitting like he’s been the past year or so, you’ll live with some hiccups on defense.”

As for hitting lefties, Rice has just three plate appearances against them through his first five games — with Goldschmidt starting the only game with a lefty starter. 

Good start 

Through six games, four Yankees starters have combined to allow just two earned runs.

At some point, Cole and Rodón will join the rotation alongside Max Fried and Cam Schlittler. As good as that foursome is, it could leave Will Warren, Ryan Weathers and Clarke Schmidt all available as the fifth starter later in the season if everyone stays healthy.

And the Yankees are high on a handful of their top pitching prospects, with Carlos Lagrange and Elmer Rodríguez potentially knocking on the door at some point, perhaps in bullpen roles. 

Bullpen 

The Yankees have been waiting for the 2023 version of Camilo Doval and would like him to get there as the primary setup man for David Bednar. He’s displayed a nasty sinker, but ran into his first trouble of the season in Wednesday’s win in Seattle after three straight impressive outings to start the year.

Jake Bird might turn into a weapon, but a National League scout said he’d be surprised if Bednar, Bird and Doval remain in their current roles throughout the season.

“I like his guts, but Bednar in a big spot would still make me nervous,’’ the scout said.

Left side of the infield 

Ryan McMahon arrived from Colorado at last year’s trade deadline with a tremendous glove and too many strikeouts.

Not much has changed, even after offseason changes to his swing.

McMahon is 1-for-15 with two walks and seven strikeouts. If the rest of the lineup clicks, they could afford below-average offense at third, but they’ll need more from McMahon, regardless.

And José Caballero, as well as Amed Rosario, certainly appear better suited to utility roles, as the Yankees wait for Anthony Volpe to get back from offseason shoulder surgery.

Until that happens — and Volpe shows his defensive issues from last season are gone — expect questions to remain about the left side of the infield.

On Thursday, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced they were calling up baseball’s consensus top prospect, shortstop and sometime center fielder, Konnor Griffin. The 19-year-old wasn’t promoted for Opening Day due to a combination of factors that had more to do with team control and leverage toward a contract, but his high strikeout rate in spring training provided cover for the Pirates to send him to Triple-A. Apparently, he had some things to learn about hitting upper level pitching, and needed five games for the Indianapolis Indians to really get ready for major league pitching. Yes, that’s sarcasm. Not coincidentally, it was announced today that Griffin and the Pirates were close to finalizing a nine-year, $140 million extension offer. We’ll see if those are the final terms of the deal, but Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony’s eight-year, $130 million contract signed last August set a pretty good range for a similar deal to Griffin.

Of course, there’s another elite prospect already tearing it up in the major leagues who is in line for a long-term extension offer. Jeff Passan reported in his Griffin article that sources had told him the Tigers and Kevin McGonigle had had some discussions about a long-term deal as well. Cardinals rookie J.J. Wetherholt was also linked to at least some general talks in Passan’s piece. And of course this all comes on the heels of Colt Emerson’s eight-year, $95 million deal, currently the largest ever given out to a prospect yet to make his major league debut.

Frankly, Passan’s reporting on McGonigle and Wetherholt is as thin as that kind of report can be, offering zero specifics. The actual story could be as little as a preliminary conversation with McGonigle’s representation, or it might not have even gotten that far. Still, we’ve been talking about an extension as well, and everyone knows McGonigle is the type of prospect you want to quickly offer a fair long-term deal to, betting on him as a long-time franchise player and trying to mitigate the cost of his potential free agent years by locking them up now until he’s in his early 30’s. However, as we’ll explore further on, there are some serious complicating factors that make this a lot more difficult decision for the Tigers than for the Pirates.

Griffin and McGonigle have been ranked 1-2 by just about every national prospect site of note. There’s certainly a good argument for Griffin based on a little more power potential and likely better defensive abilities at shortstop, but it’s really splitting hairs after watching McGonigle’s upgraded defense this spring and also seeing him post some elite sprint times that upped his secondary tool grades significantly. The one major difference is that Griffin will turn 20 later this month, while McGonigle will turn 22 in August. So there are roughly two less years of likely prime performance in McGonigle’s case. Of course, that just speaks to how precocious a hitter Griffin is at this point.

Teams have been doing more and more of this in recent years, whereas once it was more the province of small market, small payroll teams like the Rays. Those teams wouldn’t compete in free agency, and had to find creative ways of getting maximum value out of their best young players. While the vagaries of pitching injuries makes this much less appealing with a young pitcher, the top positional prospects have been getting these type of offers more and more, and from teams who could otherwise afford them in free agency anyway, but want to try and get a long-term bargain and spread the cost of a such a deal out over the 8-10 year terms this sort of deal usually is designed to cover.

There’s a theory that the added push to lock top young players up long-term is related to expectations for the new CBA to be negotiated next winter. The owners want a salary cap and floor system. The players union does not, and with Tony Clark gone and former lead negotiator Bruce Meyer now running the union, and a substantially bulked up war chest, reportedly at $400 million per Passan, they may still be in position to make a stand and either prevent the cap they have always opposed, or at least force the league and franchises to open up their books to ensure that the players share of revenue is protected in such a system. Expectations for an ugly, protracted fight over this are already quite high.

The players have been leaking their share of revenue for most of the century. Some reports had their share at 56 percent back in 2002, and now, while assessments vary since only the Braves are a publicly owned franchise, most estimates fall between 40-45 percent of total league revenue. The players union peaked under the leadership of Donald Fehr from 1985 when the former MLBPA general counsel took over as acting director, to 2009, when he passed the reins to handpicked successor and former general counsel, Michael Weiner. Weiner died in 2013 at only 51 years of age of a brain tumor. His deputy, Tony Clark, took over as the first former player to head the union.

It would be fair to suggest that things have not gone the union’s way without an actual specialist in labor law in charge. Some think that the move to a more qualified leader in Meyer will help the MLBPA to push back, but that certainly remains to be seen. What is pretty clear to everyone is that this next CBA is going to be a battle as bad, and likely worse, than the last CBA fight during the 2021-2022 offseason that kept players locked out into March before a deal was agreed upon.

The theory is that teams are trying to lock up their young talent in the expectation that currently signed deals may be exempt to one degree or another, from any proposed salary cap. Obviously they can’t just tell the Dodgers to ditch $100 million or more in player salaries to comply starting next year, as an example.

This brings us back to young Mr. McGonigle. He isn’t represented by Scott Boras as far as I can tell, though the only information available publicly states that he does have professional representation, so this isn’t a situation like Colt Keith’s, where agent Matt Paul negotiated the deal with plenty input from Keith’s mother, an attorney. That was a fairly team friendly deal, but of course Keith wasn’t quite the same level of prospect. But since McGonigle is apparently not a Boras client, an extension is at least a reasonable possibility.

Parameters for the terms of such a deal seem pretty simple to develop based on Anthony and Griffin’s deals. Anthony is only a few months older, so a term of eight or nine years seems most likely. The average annual value of Anthony’s deal is $16,250,000. The reported nine year, $140 million deal to Griffin would average $15,555,555. So we can guess that McGonigle can reasonably expect to get Anthony’s deal, and because these things build on each other as precedent’s, probably a little more.

The Pirates presumably held Griffin’s major league debut as a bargaining chip to get him and his representation to compromise somewhat on a deal. The Tigers didn’t mess around, promoting McGonigle immediately. There are plenty of other reasons why this would be a pretty dangerous move for the Tigers right now.

After their offseason spending spree, the Tigers are now roughly $2.5M from surpassing the luxury tax threshold. Digging through the whole CBA is beyond my pay grade, but former Tigers executive Mike Smith pointed out on X that breaching the luxury tax threshold would cost the Tigers their competitive balance round pick in 2027, a cut of their international bonus pool for the next signing period, as well as pushing back any compensation picks from players like Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize rejecting a qualifying offer this offseason.

Those are some pretty steep penalties. For luxury tax purposes, calculations per player are based on the average annual value of their contract. Based on that, the Tigers can’t just pay McGonigle $2.0M this year and push the rest of the money into the remaining years of such a contract to avoid breaching the threshold. All those picks have quite a bit of value. The actual 20 percent tax on such an overage isn’t really the real concern as it would probably come out to less than $4.0M total. However, as Smith also pointed out, the language in the CBA is pretty tricky on this point as to whether a deal could be signed that begins in 2027, avoiding the luxury tax hit.

Of course, if the Tigers trade for a player at the deadline, they’re pretty likely to go over the threshold anyway by taking on that salary. They may have already accepted that this is likely to happen. By offering McGonigle a deal in that $140M range right now, there is a pretty good chance they’ll be saving themselves a lot more money in the end. Should McGonigle have a good season and prove himself out as a 4 WAR player or more, such an extension next offseason, CBA negotiations willing, might end up costing more like $200 million. So there is a lot going on here under the surface.

My instinct says to just lock him up, and that the threshold is likely unavoidable this year unless they have a rough year and end up selling at the deadline. Kevin McGonigle is pretty likely to only get more expensive. But if there is any way to sign a deal that begins in 2027 and avoid the luxury tax hit and the draft pick and IFA money penalties, that’s obviously the way to go. Still, Griffin and Anthony’s deals have really established a solid recent range for this sort of deal so the actual number shouldn’t be that difficult to agree on.

SAN FRANCISCO — Marcus Semien’s struggles over his first week in a Mets uniform have been emblematic of the team’s overall offensive woes.

The new Mets second baseman ran his slump to 0-for-20 before finally notching a single during the seventh inning of Thursday night’s 7-2 loss to the Giants, futility that followed hits in his first two at-bats of the season.

“It’s taking some time so far, but definitely no panic in me,” Semien, who raised his average to a meager .130, said before the game.

Semien, who previously had switched teams multiple times before this offseason — he arrived in a November trade with Texas for Brandon Nimmo — downplayed the notion of needing time to adjust to the change in scenery.

But the Mets entered play needing contributions from him and others, as they looked to emerge from a pronounced drought that included going 1-for-29 with runners in scoring position in losing two of three games to the Cardinals to begin this road trip.

Semien, who entered play batting just .100, joined Bo Bichette (.111), Francisco Lindor (.143) and Carson Benge (.158) among the Mets most in need of hits.

The 35-year-old Semien noted that only six games into the season, one big performance would significantly improve his numbers. Such a slump in the middle of the season would not receive as much attention.

But Semien had struck out eight times in those 20 at-bats without a hit, underscoring his struggles. And his first three hits of the season hardly were walloped: one was on a ball lost in the sun at Citi Field, the next was essentially a swinging bunt, and he reached on an infield single Thursday to end his hitless streak.

The slow start follows an underwhelming season offensively for the Gold Glove second baseman. Last year he posted a .230/.305/.364 slash line with 15 homers and 62 RBIs in 127 games.

“I feel like [pitchers] are attacking him, they are getting ahead and then they are making him chase,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But I feel good with him at the plate. It’s just [six games]. I am not worried about him.”

Though Lindor’s hits have been few, he’s been reaching base at a proficient clip. Juan Soto has also picked up where last season ended in terms of reaching base.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

“The top of our order, there’s always action, there’s always opportunities to knock runners in,” Semien said. “That is all you can really ask for as an offense is to have opportunities to drive runners in. I know the power is going to come for this group, too. Three-run homers are great, we saw that when we had our walk-off game.”

He was referring to last Saturday’s 11-inning victory against the Pirates that was punctuated by Luis Robert Jr.’s walk-off blast.

But the Mets had homered only once in the four games before Thursday night. Soto delivered that homer to account for their only run in their 2-1 loss to the Cardinals in 11 innings on Wednesday.

The offensive troubles have overshadowed the team’s strong pitching and respectable defense, playing into the theme of run prevention that president of baseball operations David Stearns preached for most of the offseason.

Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga and Freddy Peralta gave the Mets strong starts in the three games in St. Louis. And the defensive miscues have been limited.

The most glaring might have been Lindor’s brain cramp Wednesday, when he forgot the number of outs and began running off the field after fielding a grounder and stepping on second base. It was only the second out, and Lindor could have turned a double play.

The Cardinals still went scoreless in the inning.

“Defensively, everybody’s worked extremely hard to be the best we can be for our great pitching staff,” Semien said. “We’re a complete team. Once we have a big breakout game, everybody is going to get the confidence.”

SAN FRANCISCO — Marcus Semien’s struggles over his first week in a Mets uniform have been emblematic of the team’s overall offensive woes.

The new Mets second baseman carried an 0-for-18 slump into Thursday night’s game, futility that followed hits in his first two at-bats of the season.

“It’s taking some time so far, but definitely no panic in me,” Semien said before the Mets faced the Giants.

Semien, who previously had switched teams multiple times before this offseason — he arrived in a November trade with Texas for Brandon Nimmo — downplayed the notion of needing time to adjust to the change in scenery.

But the Mets entered play needing contributions from him and others, as they looked to emerge from a pronounced drought that included going 1-for-29 with runners in scoring position in losing two of three games to the Cardinals to begin this road trip.

Semien, who entered play batting only .100, joined Bo Bichette (.111), Francisco Lindor (.143) and Carson Benge (.158) among the Mets most in need of hits.

The 35-year-old Semien noted that only six games into the season, one big performance would significantly improve his numbers. Such a slump in the middle of the season would not receive as much attention.

But Semien had struck out eight times in those 18 at-bats without a hit entering play, underscoring his struggles. And his two hits were hardly walloped: one was on a ball lost in the sun at Citi Field and the other was essentially a swinging bunt.

The slow start follows an underwhelming season offensively for the Gold Glove second baseman. Last year he posted a .230/.305/.364 slash line with 15 homers and 62 RBIs in 127 games.

“I feel like [pitchers] are attacking him, they are getting ahead and then they are making him chase,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But I feel good with him at the plate. It’s just [six games]. I am not worried about him.”

Though Lindor’s hits have been few, he’s been reaching base at a proficient clip. Juan Soto has also picked up where last season ended in terms of reaching base.

“The top of our order, there’s always action, there’s always opportunities to knock runners in,” Semien said. “That is all you can really ask for as an offense is to have opportunities to drive runners in. I know the power is going to come for this group, too. Three-run homers are great, we saw that when we had our walk-off game.”

He was referring to last Saturday’s 11-inning victory against the Pirates that was punctuated by Luis Robert Jr.’s walk-off blast. But the Mets had homered only once in the four games before Thursday night. Soto delivered that homer to account for their only run in their 2-1 loss to the Cardinals in 11 innings on Wednesday.

The offensive troubles have overshadowed the team’s strong pitching and respectable defense, playing into the theme of run prevention that president of baseball operations David Stearns preached for most of the offseason.

Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga and Freddy Peralta gave the Mets strong starts in the three games in St. Louis. And the defensive miscues have been limited. The most glaring might have been Lindor’s brain cramp Wednesday, when he forgot the number of outs and began running off the field after fielding a grounder and stepping on second base. It was only the second out, and Lindor could have turned a double play. The Cardinals still went scoreless in the inning.

“Defensively, everybody’s worked extremely hard to be the best we can be for our great pitching staff,” Semien said. “We’re a complete team. Once we have a big breakout game, everybody is going to get the confidence.” 

Things are already getting fiery for San Francisco Giants' brass, but cooler heads have prevailed, as expected. It's sports, god forbid guys have a little competitive edge.

Cameras caught Giants third baseman Matt Chapman cursing out first baseman Casey Schmitt in their 7-1 loss against the San Diego Padres on April 1.

Schmitt, who is a natural third baseman, missed a ball thrown from Chapman off his glove, causing an error in the bottom of the fifth inning as San Francisco trailed 1-0. It was the second instance of the game.

Chapman appeared to have yelled at Schmitt after one of the game's errors.

Schmitt missed a couple of catches, which turned into unearned runs. Chapman particularly had it after bases were loaded with two outs in the fifth as Xander Bogaerts took the plate for the Padres. Prior to the error, it would have been a Bogaerts single out and on to the next inning, but instead Bogaerts was safe at first as Gavin Sheets ran in a score.

More MLB: Giants defeat Padres for Tony Vitello's first win as manager

Chapman says 'it's baseball'

However, bygones are bygones. The two chopped it up and it's on to the next game.

"We weren't able to get the job done and it cost us some runs unfortunately," Chapman told reporters after the game. "It's just frustrating. You want to make the play and want to get outs and it sucks when we're not able to get outs and they cost us and ultimately, we lose the game, so just frustrating."

As far as the play that caused the viral moment, Chapman said: "It's baseball, it happens."

"First base isn't something he plays every single day and we're all trying to get out. We're all working hard here, so it happens," Chapman said. "We're all brothers here. Heat of the moment. I've already talked to Casey. It's all good. Figured that people would try to make that a big deal but it's baseball, stuff happens. We all learn from it, we'll move on. I already told him that it's kind of heat of the moment. I was just wanting to get those outs. It happens."

The Giants won their three-game series against the Padres 2-1, with the April 1 game being their loss.

"We come out here and take the first two games of the series against a good team and we're able to score a lot of runs," Chapman said. "Unfortunately, came back today and wasn't able to get the job done, but to come here and win a series, we're headed in the right direction. That's what we came to do, come here and win the series."

There are reports that the St. Louis Cardinals have reached out to JJ Wetherholt to discuss what it would take to get an extension done. Is that a great idea or is this much too soon and what would that look like if it happened?

It was a serendipitous moment when I asked the question on The Feed two days ago and then MLB Trade Rumors confirmed that extension talks between the St. Louis Cardinals and JJ Wetherholt were really happening. That initial report was based on an article from Jon Heyman.

A majority of commenters were in favor of the Cardinals getting an extension done with JJ, but not everyone was on board with “are you kidding me?” mentioning that Wetherholt has only played a few games. Before I dive into the pros and cons of the St. Louis Cardinals locking down JJ into a long-term deal, let’s look at some comparable pre or early MLB debut contracts.

Jackson Churio signed an eight-year, $82 million contract extension with the Milwaukee Brewers in December 2023 before playing even one MLB game.

Colt Emerson signed an eight-year, $95 million dollar contract extension with the Seattle Mariners including a club option for a ninth year before his MLB debut.

Roman Anthony signed an 8-year, $130 million contract extension with the Boston Red Sox with less than 200 MLB at-bats.

Kristian Campbell inked an eight-year, $60 million contract extension with the Boston Red Sox in April of last year that includes two option years less than a week into his MLB career.

A report today from MLB Trade Rumors says that Konnor Griffin and the Pittsburgh Pirates are working on a 9-year contract somewhere in the neighborhood of $140 million dollars.

I’d like to add one more past contract into this discussion from St. Louis Cardinals history. It was 2004 when Albert Pujols signed a 7-year $100 million dollar contract just prior to his arbitration hearing with the team. Allowing for inflation, Albert’s contract today would equal around $200 million dollars if had happened in 2026. At the time, that was the largest contract ever given to a Major League player with 3-years of experience or less. Let me be clear that I’m not saying JJ Wetherholt is the next Albert Pujols. No one is the next Albert Pujols, but that’s the closest contract I can find that the Cardinals signed with such a young player.

If the Cardinals do work out an extension with JJ Wetherholt, what should that look like?

JJ will turn 24 years old in September. He’s currently under team control through 2031. Many believe that for Wetherholt to consider an extension, the Cardinals would need to be willing to invest in him with an 8 or maybe even a 9-year deal. There’s a very valid argument that Wetherholt wouldn’t want to hit free agency when he’s 32 or 33. A shorter term deal with a higher annual value could be the solution. The longest contract I can remember the St. Louis Cardinals offering is the 7-year, $120 million dollar deal signed with Matt Holliday (no relation, unfortunately) in 2010. If you’re among the many that think a JJ Wetherholt extension needs to get done, what dollar amount would you commit to that contract? I’d have to believe that the $140 million reportedly included in the Konnor Griffin extension being discussed with the Pirates would have to be close.

One of my favorite points brought up in The Feed conversation was from my colleague, Greg who said “Is this smaller market teams viewing this as a regular pathway to compete with the big boys?” I think that is a very compelling argument about how smaller market teams like the Cardinals and Pirates can remain competitive by recognizing great talent at an early age and being willing to take the risk.

Let’s talk about that “risk”. While there is understandable excitement about JJ Wetherholt’s potential and the great impression he’s made in the first half-dozen games this year, he also has a history of significant hamstring injuries. There’s no way to know if he’ll be injury-prone in the majors. Major league pitching has a way of finding holes in swings. Will JJ make the correct adjustments when/if that happens?

I’m willing to go all-in and say that I’d sign JJ Wetherholt to a long-term extension right now if the Cardinals can afford what he and his team would ask for. He’s already proving to be a very smart and aggressive baserunner and he’s a versatile player who can play many positions well. When asked about JJ Wetherholt being ready for big moments, Oli Marmol said “he doesn’t scare” and that’s another reason why I’m convinced he needs to be the first player we lock down for the new Cardinals core. His personality in the clubhouse is also getting rave reviews from teammates. If I were President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom and the DeWitt family, I’d get out the checkbook and start production on as many JJ Wetherholt St. Louis Cardinals jerseys as the warehouse can hold. What say you?

Corey Kluber is no stranger to Cleveland. After José Ramírez, there isn’t a player with fabrics tied more tightly to the city and its baseball team in the 2010’s than the two-time Cy Young winner.

Kluber was always on the cutting edge of pitching mechanics, and what separated him from the rest was fastball and breaking ball diversity. It also helped that everything he threw was flat out nasty. Now back in Cleveland as an advisor and occasional face in the clubhouse, Kluber’s fingerprints are all over the Guardians’ rotation, more specifically through the cutter.

BIG RIG

Gavin Williams is someone who I’ve covered extensively on CtC. I forecasted his breakout last season around the end of May after a rough start forced him to integrate his cutter and prominently feature it in his arsenal. Last season, Gavin’s cutter was essentially a deadened four-seamer. What that means is he kept a similar grip but applied more pressure on his middle finger, killing the arm-side movement on the offering. This was vital to Gavin’s success as his fastball, while playing at a high level at the top of the zone, wasn’t finding the zone enough, and he had no secondary heater to get ahead in counts. Williams led baseball in walk rate in 2025, but the ever growing confidence in the cutter both dropped the walk rate slightly and allowed Gavin to find more success in the zone with his fastball. His heater went from a 15.7% barrel rate across his first two months with a .607 SLG against to 11% barrel rate and .426 SLG against with a +3% growth in whiff rate.

This season, Gavin has taken his cutter up a level, and with the addition of a pretty nasty sinker, his repertoire has filled out nicely. The focus in the Spring was more sinker-driven, but some more pronounced arm-side run from Williams’ cutter was something I found noticeable along with his arm slot dropping from 35 degrees to 32 degrees, though we’ll see if that’s something that sustains. Then he went out and dominated the Dodgers to the tune of 10 strikeouts across 7 masterful innings, and his cutter continued to be a major takeaway. Gavin’s cutter on the season has added an additional inch (2.3 inches to 3.4 inches) of horizontal movement while the rest of its shape remains largely the same. It was dancing a touch more than that against LA while living in the zone at a 75% clip, and Gavin Williams ahead in the count is about as unhittable as any pitcher in the sport. Since the addition of his cutter, Williams posted a .136 average against and 32.1% whiff rate when ahead in the count, a mark identical to Tarik Skubal. Working to get ahead should be the goal of any pitcher, but the more success Gavin has with that in 2026, the more dominant he will continue to look.

BIBEE’S EVOLVING ARSENAL

Last season, Tanner Bibee threw a sweeper. That sweeper was a Stuff+ darling, running marks over 110 across every Stuff+ measurement, but his inability to land it for strikes or generate consistent swing and miss out of the zone led to him not using it thus far in the 2026 season. Bibee’s development in 2026 has been less about his cutter and more about what’s being labeled as a cutter when it shouldn’t be.

Bibee throws a slider now. He threw one last year, but with his arsenal finding an overhaul around September, the noticeable change was more in how much more he was throwing the “cutter” and less about its shape. Now, with Bibee, there’s a distinct shape difference between his cutter “types”, and one is carrying much more like a slider would, and this has essentially cut out his sweeper altogether. Bibee’s attack plan against right-handed hitters has not changed a ton since last season, but with a slider over sweeper, he’s now using it more because he can land it in the zone more confidently without it hanging as much.

This new slider is running a chase rate of 44.4% through two starts with a whiff rate of 36.8%. The key for Bibee, as it always seems to be, is mechanically cleaning up the discrepancy between the offerings. He’s had a few misfires where the velocity and shape indicated slider, but the location read more cutter in intent, and he’s gotten hit hard because of it. Nevertheless, there’s promise here that Bibee can find more success against right-handed batters in 2-strike counts. Those were the bane of his existence last season, but he’s already seeing a better success rate in those counts, and he has his newly found slider to thank for that.

CECCONI & MESSICK EXPAND ARSENALS

The most recent additions to the Cleveland Guardians Cutter Co. are both Slade Cecconi and Parker Messick. Cecconi showcased improved horizontal movement on his sweeper this Spring, and he’s begun to flesh out his cutter into a real weapon. Tossing out his first start this season as Cecconi pitched through an illness, we’ll largely focus on his Spring. Cecconi’s cutter accomplished something he’d been needing which is a strike-throwing pitch along the inner third to lefties that also serves as something up in the zone running away from righties. He now has pitches that he can attack either handedness with at every section of the zone.

As for Parker Messick, the cutter is very new and could be very useful depending on its usage. In his first start against the Dodgers, he only threw four of them, topping out at 90, but they were all to right-handed hitters. He struggled locating it for the most part, but using a cutter to RHH similar to how he tucks sinkers under the hands of LHH would be an ideal evolution of his arsenal.

This is something I look forward to tracking all season. The cutter continues to be the added pitch to arsenals of starters once starters reach the Major Leagues, and Kluber, while seldomly there, deserves as much credit as Carl Willis and Brad Goldberg for this seemingly new revelation to this staff.