Category: MLB

The ring was flashy.

The victory was anything but.

Before first pitch Monday night, former Dodgers first base coach and first-year Miami Marlins manager Clayton McCullough received a warm welcome back to Dodger Stadium. He was greeted by a parade of hugs from his old players during batting practice (including a leaping embrace into his arms from Mookie Betts). He was honored with a pregame ceremony on the field to receive his glitzy 2024 World Series ring. He received the highest of compliments from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts during his pregame media address.

"Clayton is a very, very special person, a very special coach,” Roberts said, describing McCullough as “a game changer” for last year’s championship team.

That, however, was as much hospitality as McCullough would get in his return to the Southland.

TOMMY CALLED GAME! pic.twitter.com/jswxa2d7sI

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 29, 2025

In the Dodgers’ 7-6 win over the Marlins, McCullough’s old club outlasted his new one in a game that never should have been that close, the Dodgers blowing an early five-run lead only to walk it off on Tommy Edman’s winning two-run single in the bottom of the 10th.

Monday should have been a much more straightforward win for the Dodgers.

Shohei Ohtani scored in the first inning on a leadoff single, a steal of second base and an RBI single from Freddie Freeman. Betts doubled the lead in the third with a bases-loaded hit. Former Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas tacked on again in the fourth, roping a double down the left-field line for his first RBI and extra-base hit of the season.

Then, in what felt like a game-sealing sequence, Teoscar Hernández followed Freeman’s leadoff walk in the fifth with a sky-high two-run blast to left — making it 5-0 with his team-leading ninth long ball of the season and fourth in the last five games.

Read more:Dodgers put Tyler Glasnow on injured list unsure on when he'll return

Instead, a half-inning later, the Marlins made it a brand new ball game.

After five scoreless innings, Dodgers right-hander Dustin May was chased with one out in the sixth, giving up a run on two singles and a walk to get the hook after 83 pitches. With two left-handed hitters looming, Roberts summoned southpaw Anthony Banda from the bullpen. A sensible plan in theory, but with a disastrous outcome two batters later.

Lacking any consistent command, Banda walked his first batter on five pitches before falling behind again to pinch-hitting righty Dane Myers. Facing a three-and-one count, Banda tried to climb the ladder with a 96 mph fastball. Myers, however, was all over it, clobbering a no-doubt grand slam to left that stunned Chavez Ravine into silence. Just like that, the score was 5-5.

The Dodgers squandered chances to answer. They put their first two batters aboard in the sixth, had a runner at second with one out in the seventh and got a single to lead off the eighth. They couldn’t cash in on any of those opportunities, though.

The Marlins then took the lead on Jesús Sánchez’s two-out double in the top of the 10th.

In the end, however, the Dodgers survived.

Andy Pages led the bottom of the 10th with a walk. Kiké Hernández advanced Pages and automatic runner Michael Conforto to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. Then, after coming off the bench earlier in the game, Edman walked it off with a line drive single to right.

Read more:Dave Roberts adopts Palisades High baseball team coping with fire's destruction

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Six pitches into Monday’s start in Baltimore, it looked like it might be another rocky outing for young Will Warren as he allowed a single and a double to give the Orioles an instant scoring chance. 

The 25-year-old, facing a Baltimore offense mired in a horrendous slump with runners in scoring position (6-for-60), needed just 13 pitches to escape with no damage, getting a pair of swinging strikeouts.

“I thought Will had really good stuff tonight,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I thought his changeup was good. I thought his fastball had as good life as we’ve seen.”

The starter tallied five strikeouts and got 23 called strikes and whiffs on 72 pitches (the changeup was responsible for five whiffs on 10 swings), but was pulled with one out in the fourth inning after allowing four runs on five hits (three for extra bases) with two costly walks in the 4-3 loss to the Orioles.

As is the case with the start of his season, there was some good and some bad as his ERA rose to 5.63 through six outings.

“A mistake there around some walks that obviously ended up hurting,” Boone said, referring to the Orioles’ lone hit with a runner in scoring position on the night: Ryan O’Hearn’s third-inning three-run home run. 

“I’m never trying to start off the inning with back-to-back walks,” Warren said of the only free passes he surrendered on the night to start the frame. “And then obviously, O’Hearn did the damage on a pitch that didn’t get quite in. So yeah, it sucks.”

Warren didn’t regret the 2-2 sweeper to the left-handed hitter: “I think I need to be a little farther in, and the outcome’s probably different. Just gotta execute pitches.”

While Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman are both struggling through the season's opening weeks, the two took several close pitches and worked walks on 3-2 pitches. “That’s a tough part of the order, obviously,” Boone said.

“I think at the end of the day, you just gotta force them to put the ball in play,” Warren said. 

The righty classified his first month as up and down with some good outings mixed in with some he wished he had back, like a start in Tampa that lasted just 1.2 innings. “I think overall it’s just about attacking in the zone.”

Boone said he felt like Warren’s command “has been there” and “some games it’s really been excellent.”

“He’s faced some tough lineups,” the manager said. “Cleveland threw all those lefties at him, [and Baltimore] is a tough left-handed lineup that’s tough on right-handed pitching.”

Despite Warren continuing to ride the roller coaster early this year, Boone did take some positives from the latest time out.

“Even though it’s only three-plus [innings] and he gives up the homer, there’s a lot of good in there,” he said. Some really good fastballs, some really good changeups. Got some big outs.” 

“But again, the two walks in that part of the order where you’re in the danger zone, and then a mistake. Hopefully continues to grow from it.”

A costly misplay

Warren had some tough luck with two outs in the second inning when Ramón Laureano drove a ball that went over Trent Grisham’s head to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead. It went for a double, but the center fielder got a terrible jump and was twisted around by the 380-foot liner that had a 95 percent catch probability, per Statcast.

TURN ON THE SPRINKLERS pic.twitter.com/vCEUp7vq13

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) April 28, 2025

“I think he thought it was gonna fade,” Boone said. “It kinda cut back on him. I think he just expected it there, and it cut, so it went more straight over his head.”

Grisham said he got a “good read” off the bat, but “That ball was just in a different spot than I originally thought.”

Several injury updates

Before Monday’s game, Boone went through the status of several of the Yanks’ injured players (via Bryan Hoch):

- DH Giancarlo Stanton stayed behind in New York to continue workouts during the series in Baltimore. He will be doing running and on-field work, but there is still no set date for game action as he continues to ramp up.

- RHP Jonathan Loáisiga began a rehab assignment over the weekend with Class-A Tampa but is still “a few weeks away” from rejoining the club. The organization wants to see him pitch on back-to-back days before he gets activated. He will make two appearances with Tampa, the first on April 30, before he starts climbing the rehab ladder. 

- RHP Marcus Stroman is still experiencing discomfort in his knee and is continuing to play catch, but not “ramped up yet,” Boone said. He is dealing with “irritation that won’t leave, so we’re trying to look at everything.”

- RHP Scott Effross is preparing to throw a live batting practice in the first week of May.

Devin Williams returned to the mound after back-to-back rocky outings cost him his closer job and looked like the pitcher the Yankees acquired to anchor the back-end of the bullpen.

Williams faced the Orioles' five-six-seven hitters as he looked to preserve a one-run deficit and give the top of the Yanks order a chance at some ninth-inning heroics on Monday night in Baltimore. While the right-hander did his job, the bats didn’t hold up their end of the bargain in the 4-3 loss.

“Really good,” manager Aaron Boone said of the demoted closer's 14-pitch (nine-strike) eighth inning. “Just liked his look out there. Was aggressive, just in the strike zone, aggressive with his fastball.” 

It was three straight heaters to Ryan Mountcastle to get ahead 1-2, before a nasty changeup was whiffed for the first out.

“I thought every changeup he threw, [I] pretty good angle from it over there [from] my vantage point in the dugout, I liked the depth on the pitch,” the skipper added. “But also establishing his fastball in the strike zone with it.”

Williams battled Heston Kjerstad with the young left-handed outfielder fouling off three pitches and taking three balls before a changeup was weakly grounded to second. Ramon Urias saw two fastballs, ultimately popping out to first to close the door.

Devin Williams works a 1-2-3 eighth inning pic.twitter.com/CM5JNXgAX3

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) April 29, 2025

In his previous two outings, he surrendered four runs (three earned) on three hits and a walk in an inning at Tampa before he pitched no part of an inning last Friday in The Bronx, allowing three runs on two hits in a blown save against Toronto.

While it wasn’t a high-leverage situation, Boone said he liked the spot for Williams to get work after not appearing in Sunday’s doubleheader.

“Hoping he could hold the line there for us, and obviously he did and gave us a chance there,” he said. “It was good to see him get out there and have 1-2-3. Thought he had some real good conviction with every pitch he threw.”

The manager is hopeful that the outing is a “step in the right direction” and can help the closer get his “mojo” back, reminding him “just how darn good you are at this game.”

Of course, this is only the start of what could be a long build-up for him to return to his usual self. Monday's bounce-back saw Williams lower his ERA to an even 10.00 as he has now allowed 12 runs (10 earned) and 12 hits in 9.0 innings with seven walks and eight strikeouts.

Lost in the excitement of Brandon Nimmo's historic day and the Mets' offense exploding for 19 runs on Monday against the Washington Nationals to notch their 20th win was starter Griffin Canning who got through five scoreless innings and has been just as good as the rest of New York's starting pitchers to begin the season.

Canning had to battle through those five frames with traffic on the basepaths in almost every inning, but the right-hander executed pitches when he needed to and left the game unscathed.

"I thought he was good," said manager Carlos Mendoza. "They made him work. He had to work for a couple innings… He had to make pitches, kept making pitches, executed when he needed to, got strikeouts with the breaking ball, with the slider. Overall, I thought it was good."

Facing a scrappy Nationals team that came from behind in two walk-off wins in the series, Canning found himself in trouble on more than a few occasions.

In fact, in each of the first four innings, Washington had a runner in scoring position that Canning had to maneuver his way around. Which he did.

The 28-year-old who signed a one-year, $4.25 million contract in the offseason is now 4-1 with a 2.61 ERA over six starts in his first season in New York. In four of those starts, he's allowed one earned run or fewer and has shown a remarkable ability to remain calm in sticky situations like his 1.39 WHIP would suggest.

"I think it’s just a one-pitch-at-a-time mentality," Canning said about getting out of trouble. "Don’t try and get out of the situation. I think sometimes you can get it too big, so just focusing on executing one pitch at a time."

While the final score ended up being a blowout, those evacuations came with the game still tight and a lot of pressure on Canning to keep the lead, especially after Sunday's disheartening loss.

Canning ended his outing with a 1-2-3 fifth inning, his first clean inning of the game, including two strikeouts. He finished with five strikeouts and threw 90 pitches (56 strikes).

"Pretty good," he said about his performance. "I’d like to get deeper into the game. I just think I can clean up some stuff with my execution of the changeup and slider when I’m ahead of the count, but I’m not gonna complain about putting five zeros up."

So far, the one knock on Canning has been his length. He hasn't gone more than six innings once and is averaging just over 5.1 innings per start.

However, it's possible Mendoza could've sent him back out for the sixth had the Mets not scored three in the top half of the inning to take what appeared to be, at the time, a big 6-0 lead.

Regardless, Canning has been a pleasant surprise for his new club after he spent five seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, compiling a 25-34 record with a 4.78 ERA.

It's still too early to tell how the entire season will play out, but in the short term, president of baseball operations David Stearns deserves a ton of credit for seeing something in Canning and helping unlock it for New York's benefit as it withstands the losses of Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas.

Entering play on Monday, Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo was hitting .192 with a .576 OPS -- just a brutal first month of the season that comes on the heels of a tough second half last year.

While dealing with plantar fasciitis for much of 2024 didn't help, make no bones about it, Nimmo had been struggling at the plate for the better part of half a season.

It's something he was aware of and trying to fix.

Then, Monday's game against the Washington Nationals happened.

With New York up 3-0 in the sixth inning, Nimmo came to the plate with two runners on and hit a three-run homer to extend the Mets' lead. Had Nimmo's day ended there, it would've been a pretty good day and a trend in the right direction. But he wasn't done, not by a long shot.

An inning later, the outfielder had another chance to do some damage, this time with the bases loaded. On the first pitch, Nimmo skied another home run for a grand slam to give New York a commanding lead and him seven RBI on the day -- a new career-high.

Still not done.

He came up with the bases loaded again, a testament to the hitters in front of him, to which Nimmo gave all the credit, in the eighth, and for an encore, hit a two-run double to tie the franchise record with nine RBI in a single game.

"These days don’t come very often – it’s taken me nine years," Nimmo joked after the game. "That’s really cool to tie a franchise record. You just enjoy days like this, and this is one of the reasons you play baseball."

After the game, Nimmo's average jumped to .218 and his OPS soared over 100 points to .679. While those numbers are still a far cry from the player that Mets fans have grown accustomed to seeing since he made his MLB debut in 2016, it's certainly a trend back in the right direction.

Rough start aside, even before Monday's historic game, Nimmo felt that he was on his way to breaking out while hitting balls hard but running into some tough luck.

"Even yesterday, I came away with no hits, but I hit a lot of balls hard and so I feel like I’ve been trending in this direction," he said. "Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And you kind of start to head in that direction. It doesn’t really happen in one fell swoop usually.

"So I was definitely trending in this direction and it’s great to have a day like today to hopefully get [me] going. You never know, tomorrow’s a new day and you don’t know what’s gonna happen tomorrow, but I do feel like I’ve been putting better at-bats together and we’ve been trending in this direction."

A productive Nimmo, lowered from cleanup to sixth on Monday, in the middle of New York's lineup, does so much to help lengthen the batting order. So, following the 32-year-old's impressive performance, it'll be interesting to see where manager Carlos Mendoza puts him in the lineup going forward.

In 73 at-bats batting fourth this season, Nimmo is slashing .205/.253/.370. He didn't fare well in that spot last season either, albeit in a much smaller sample size.

"Part of you just wants to scream and throw a tantrum and just be like ‘what in the world is going on’, but there’s another part of you that understands that’s just the way baseball works and sometimes you hit balls right at people and sometimes you hit a little squibber and you get a base hit," Nimmo said.

"[It’s] great to have a day like today," he continued. "It’s been a little bit frustrating and you never know when days like today might happen. Tying a franchise-record in RBI, that doesn’t happen every day."

While Monday's game was one for the record books -- not just for Nimmo but the entire team as they put up 19 runs on 21 hits in a blowout win -- Nimmo is hoping it's not a flash in the pan.

His next opportunity to build off this will be on Tuesday when the Mets host the Arizona Diamondbacks to begin a three-game series.

"You just gotta focus on the process and trying to make sure you’re working on the right things and you’re headed in the right direction," he said. "If you’re not, then how do I get working in the right direction?"

Regardless, Nimmo's name is now entrenched in Mets history, something he doesn't take for granted.

"It can be so frustrating at times, but so rewarding at others and you just keep fighting and try to stay calm, cool and collected through it and eventually break through and have days like this," he said. "So, really special day, really special moment."

The Yankees fell behind early and rallied late, but couldn’t punch through, leaving nine runners on base and going 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position in a 4-3 loss to the Orioles on Monday night in Baltimore.

The O's entered the game with one win in their last seven games and losers of three straight. They improved to 11-17 on the year. New York fell to 17-12. Baltimore entered the game 6 for their last 60 with RISP, and went 1-for-7 in those situations, with the lone knock proving to be the difference.

Here are the takeaways...

- Will Warren was greeted by a Cedric Mullins single to center and a Gunnar Henderson double to the left-center gap to put two in scoring position in the first. But the young righty got Adley Rutschman to pop out, Ryan O’Hearn swinging on a fastball, and Ryan Mountcastle swinging on a sweeper. 

Warren got the first two in the second, before Jackson Holliday cracked a single. He came around to score the game’s first run when Ramón Laureano drove a ball over Trent Grisham’s head in center. The double made it six hard-hit balls of at least 98 mph off Warren in the first nine batters.

Warren was the architect of trouble in the third as he walked the first two batters and left a 3-2 sweeper over the middle of the plate that O’Hearn pulled over the wall in right for a three-run shot. He bounced back to strike out the side. 

The righty was pounding the zone – throwing first-pitch strikes to 16 of 18 batters – but a one-out double by Laureano down the third base line in the fourth ended his night.

- Some sloppy defense hurt the Yanks’ 25-year-old starter. On the first double, Grisham got a terrible jump and was twisted around by the 380-foot liner that had a 95 percent catch probability, per Statcast. Warren also had Laureano picked off second in the fourth, but the ball came out of Oswald Peraza’s glove at third on the tag.

Warren’s final line: 3.1 innings, four runs, six hits, two walks, five strikeouts on 72 pitches (47 strikes).

- Aaron Judge had a pair of softly hit singles his first two times up; the first dumped into left and the second just passed the outstretched glove of Baltimore’s shortstop. He now has 45 hits on the year, but went down swinging on a splitter from Orioles starter TomoyukiSugano his third time up.

Judge had a big chance with one out in the seventh and runners on the corners, but he bounced a ball to third and beat the relay throw at first to score a run on the groundout. The reigning MVP was up against Baltimore's 6-foot-7 closer Felix Bautista with one out in the ninth and went down swinging on a splitter. He finished 2-for-5 with two strikeouts.

- Anthony Volpe, on his 24th birthday, had a bases-loaded chance with two down in the first, but grounded out to short. He grabbed an RBI double into the corner with one down in the eighth to finish 1-for-4.

- Austin Wells was hitless in three at-bats with a strikeout before he notched an RBI double to make it a one-run game in the eighth. 

- Paul Goldschmidt struck out swinging with two on and one out in each of his first two at-bats, on a four-seam fastball in the first and on a splitter in the third by Sugano. His third time up, he smoked a high fastball in the fifth, but Mullins made a leaping grab in center to steal a potential two-run dinger for a 402-foot out to save the O’s starter. He singled to center his first at-bat against the bullpen to finish 1-for-4.

- Jazz Chisholm Jr., plunked his first time up, swung through a splitter to strand two in the third. He finished 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.

- Jasson Domínguez singled in the fourth, but struck out three times swinging, including for the second out in the eighth with a runner on second. 

- Grisham went 2-for-5 with a strikeout, grabbing a hit with a RISP, but didn’t get an RBI as Oswaldo Cabrera got a bad jump from second. Cabrera, who singled in the seventh, tapped out to third to end the eighth.

- Cody Bellinger walked and singled his first two trips, but finished 1-for-4 with a strikeout to end it.

- Ryan Yarbrough was first out of the bullpen and issued a walk, but got Henderson swinging on a nasty sweeper and Rutschman to fly out. Pitching on six days' rest, the lefty looked fresh, retiring eight straight with three strikeouts on 41 pitches. 

He allowed a pair of singles in the seventh, but a double-play ball meant he was never in danger. Yarbrough kept the Yanks in the game and saved the rest of the bullpen after Sunday’s doubleheader. His final line: 3.2 innings, two hits, one walk, three strikeouts.

- Devin Williams, who recently lost his role as closer, started the bottom of the eighth with a strikeout on a nasty changeup below the zone and needed 14 pitches (nine strikes) for a 1-2-3 inning.

Game MVP: Tomoyuki Sugano

The 35-year-old MLB debutant held the Yankees in check despite giving up some traffic in his five innings of work, stranding seven runners after allowing five hits and a walk. The right-hander, who had just nine strikeouts entering the game, tallied eight. Sugano got nine whiffs on 12 splitters.

Highlights

Anthony Volpe with an RBI double to cut it to 4-2 pic.twitter.com/GAiJt4NNFV

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 29, 2025

Austin Wells follows up Anthony Volpe’s RBI double with one of his own!

It’s now a 4-3 game pic.twitter.com/yHDnC5ricP

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 29, 2025

What's next

The two teams renew their hostilities on Tuesday night with another 6:35 p.m. first pitch in Charm City.

Left-hander Carlos Rodon (3.50 ERA, 1.056 WHIP in 36 innings) gets the ball for the Yanks. Veteran righty Kyle Gibson (4.24 ERA, 1.350 WHIP in 169.2 innings last year for St. Louis) makes his first start of the year for the O's.

Less than a month ago, Tyler Glasnow couldn’t have sounded more confident.

After tossing five shutout innings in his season debut against the Atlanta Braves on March 31, the oft-injured 31-year-old Dodgers pitcher believed he had finally unlocked the secret to better health.

That night, the 6-foot-8 right-hander said his mechanics felt “really synched up;” following offseason changes to the spine angle, release point and thought process behind his long-limbed delivery.

He spoke highly of the tweaks he had made in his offseason training regimen — including, notably, the elimination of heavy balls from his winter throwing program — and took his encouraging early results as a sign they’d “really been working."

Read more:Tyler Glasnow exits with shoulder discomfort in Dodgers' win: 'Extremely frustrating'

Most of all, Glasnow described pitching with “athletic and free” mechanics on the mound; having seemingly found the kind of comfortable delivery that has so often eluded him over an injury-plagued 10-year career.

“My body just feels a lot better,” Glasnow said. “It's moving more fluid.”

Less than a month later, those quotes ring hollow.

On Monday, Glasnow was placed on the injured list with what the team called shoulder inflammation — shelving the pitcher for the foreseeable future after he left a start on Sunday after just one inning with what he described as a  “grabbing” sensation in his shoulder.

There was no immediate timeline for how long Glasnow (who has had at least one IL stint every year since 2019, save the pandemic-shortened 2020 season) might be out.

There was no set plan yet for what his recovery will look like, either, with both the pitcher and the team going back to the drawing board to figure out how to keep him healthy.

“I think we’re all just — as Tyler said — very frustrated,” manager Dave Roberts said, “and trying to get to the bottom of it.”

Indeed, the most frustrating element of Glasnow’s injury setback is that it might be rooted in the health-conscious changes he made over the winter.

After undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2021, then sustaining a season-ending elbow tendinitis injury last year, Glasnow looked to revamp his delivery. He felt his old mechanics — in particular, a habit of letting his front side fly too far open on each pitch — was putting stress on his long-troubled elbow.

At first, Glasnow’s new throw seemed to be the fix.

Even before his season debut, he said repeatedly in spring training that he felt healthier physically and more freed up mentality, hopeful he could pitch a full season for the first time in his career.

“I feel really comfortable with what I worked on,” he said. “I’ve kind of changed a ton of stuff.”

Just five starts into the season, however, things had changed.

And as Glasnow theorized Sunday, his new throw might be an unintended culprit.

“Anytime you change something [you've] done for a long time to try to prevent an injury, I think it's just other things are taking over,” Glasnow said Sunday. “There's more stress on one part, and then I compensate doing something else. I don't even know what it is or what's going on. I'm just trying to figure out, like, why it is that something new seems to be happening.”

Read more:The Dodgers didn't just help Tyler Glasnow get healthy, they helped him get better

That’s why, as Glasnow hit the injured list Monday, Roberts wasn’t sure how his recovery process would look.

There is no structural damage in Glasnow’s shoulder. The team didn’t even feel like an MRI was necessary, with Glasnow reporting only shoulder discomfort and “overall body soreness” when he arrived at the ballpark.

Instead, Glasnow is out because — despite his early optimism — his new delivery was not allowing him to pitch pain-free.

“My position is, when you have somebody that is complaining about things, certainly a pitcher, you're very cautious to prevent against any type of injury,” Roberts said.

Exactly when Glasnow will be back is another question, with Roberts saying his absence could “be a tricky one as far as timeline” as he works through a new round of changes to his delivery.

“In spring training, he felt good with the new delivery, until he didn't,” Roberts said. “So I just really can't speak to that."

Roberts added: “For me, if we're going to do this, then let's make sure that we have everything taken care of, as far as the mechanics, the physical part of it. So when we do get him back, then we can just move forward without looking back.”

For now, the Dodgers are looking ahead with uncertainty when it comes to the rest of their pitching staff.

Tony Gonsolin (out since the end of spring training with a back injury) will return to the rotation Wednesday. Ben Casparius (a rookie swingman in the bullpen) could be stretched out to handle a starter’s workload.

But Blake Snell remains out with his own bout of shoulder inflammation (he recently received a pain-reducing injection, Roberts said, and does not have a timeline to begin a throwing program). Clayton Kershaw is still three weeks away from being eligible to return from the 60-day injured list. And Shohei Ohtani isn’t expected back on the mound until at least the midway point of the season.

It leaves the Dodgers with currently just four healthy starters (Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki, Dustin May and Gonsolin once he is activated Wednesday) as they approach a grueling portion of their schedule (starting Friday, they will play 19 games in 20 days).

“Honestly, I just really don’t know how it’s going to play out in the next week to 10 days,” Roberts said of the team’s upcoming pitching plans, which could include spot starters from the minor leagues and/or a reliance upon pre-designated bullpen games (which will be their plan Tuesday). 

“Pitching,” he added, “is certainly volatile.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

(This article was written with the assistance of Castmagic, an AI tool, and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Please reach out to us if you notice any mistakes.)

If you’ve been paying attention to the Dodgers this season — or the baseball sphere in general — you’ve probably heard plenty about Roki Sasaki. The hyped Japanese phenom was supposed to be one of the most exciting new pitchers in MLB. 

But here we are a few weeks in, and the "Baseball Bar-B-Cast" hosts, Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman, are asking a question Dodgers fans might be afraid to say out loud: Why has Sasaki looked … not great?

Let’s break down what Mintz and Shusterman discussed on their latest episode, because their take is one you don’t want to miss if you’re eager to see Sasaki become L.A.’s next ace — or if you’re feeling some early season anxiety.

Sasaki's splitter remains disgusting

First, let’s start with the good. As Shusterman points out, “The splitter is still one of the best pitches in the world.” That’s not hyperbole. It bails Sasaki out of jams and makes big leaguers look downright silly. That's why the hype around the young phenom didn’t seem overblown when he made the leap from NPB.

Also, the Dodgers' season is going swimmingly so far, even with some pitching struggles.

But the fastball … yikes, it needs help

Here’s where things get dicey. The fastball just isn’t playing. “He is getting no whiffs on it whatsoever,” Shusterman says. “He’s not throwing it hard enough to just blow it past guys. 96 [mph] is not fast enough to just live in the zone in the big leagues, especially when it doesn’t have plus life and your command isn’t very good.” What's more, that’s not something that can be fixed with a simple grip tweak or extra bullpen session.

For now, Sasaki can survive, especially against weaker lineups like the Pirates'. He went deeper in his most recent outing Saturday against Pittsburgh — an improvement, to be sure. But the “puzzle” (as Mintz calls it) is figuring out how to make his fastball not just playable but a weapon. The hosts draw a parallel to the pre-draft skepticism about Paul Skenes’ fastball, although Skenes was throwing harder, and his command was significantly sharper.

The Dodgers have the tools — and the need

Mintz and Shusterman both put their faith in the Dodgers’ pitch design machine. “I trust the Dodgers people to figure that out as much as I trust anybody," Mintz says. 

This is L.A., after all — a club famous for turning project arms into All-Stars. And, as Shusterman notes, with other Dodgers arms dealing with injuries, “every Sasaki start just has more importance because it’s not like, oh, whatever, he's the sixth starter … Now it becomes more important for him to figure it out."

Patience and a little faith

What’s the lesson here? For Sasaki, the “fastball shape” problem is real, and it will take more than blind optimism to sort out. “If Roki was on the Rockies, if he was Rocky Sasaki, I would be like … he’s cooked. Like, he has no chance to ever figure it out,” Mintz jokes. But on the Dodgers? Hope remains.

He isn’t a bust (far from it). But the version of Sasaki we all dreamed about will require a bit more patience, a lot of coaching and maybe a little bit of the Dodgers’ legendary pitching magic. For now, each start remains an audition of sorts for how this experiment will turn out.

Is Roki Sasaki the Dodgers’ next ace? Or a project? Or a puzzle? For now, maybe a little bit of all three. But with some faith in Sasaki's splitter and the Dodgers' pitching development apparatus, it’s going to be a blast to watch this story unfold.

For more on the Dodgers and other baseball debates, tune in to "Baseball-Bar-B-Cast" on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.

The Mets (20-9) poured it on against the Washington Nationals in a 19-5 rout on Monday to secure a split of the four-game series.

Here are the takeaways...

-What started out as a bit of a snoozer offensively turned into a total laugher as New York put up 19 runs on 21 hits, scoring 17 runs in the last five innings and putting a hurt on Washington's bullpen that entered the game dead last in most pitching categories.

-Brandon Nimmo had the best day at the plate of his career to break out of a month-long slump with two home runs, a double and nine RBI, finishing 4-for-6.

His first home run came in the sixth inning after reliever Colin Poche entered the game for Trevor Williams, the former Met who pitched well against his old team. With two on and one out, Nimmo sent a 2-0 four-seamer by the lefty 410 feet to center field for a three-run homer to put New York up 6-0.

The second of Nimmo's two blasts came just an inning later. Now facing Cole Henry with the bases loaded and one out, Nimmo wasted no time and pounced on the first pitch, which he gave a ride to right center field for a grand slam. The outfielder had a chance for a second grand slam in the eighth inning but settled for a two-run double to tie the franchise record with nine RBI in one game.

Nimmo's historic day raised his batting average to .218 and his OPS to .679. He's now tied with Pete Alonso for most home runs on the team with six and catapulted to second on the team in RBI with 21.

-New York's offense didn't stop there, though, as Jeff McNeil also had a big day at the plate. He finished 2-for-5 with a home run, a triple and three RBI. The home run, McNeil's first of the season, came in the fifth inning and gave the Mets a 3-0 lead.

-Taking advantage of the Nationals sending out position player Amed Rosario to pitch the ninth inning, Mark Vientos hit his third home run of the season, a three-run shot, and went 2-for-4 with two walks, three RBI and four runs scored. The third baseman had a great series in our nation's capital, going 7-for-16 over the four games to raise his average to .219.

-Other notable offensive performances on the day were Alonso (2-for-5, a walk, three runs scored, RBI), Jesse Winker (2-for-4, four runs scored, two walks, RBI), Luisangel Acuña (3-for-6, RBI), Francisco Alvarez (2-for-5, walk, RBI) and Juan Soto (2-for-4) before getting subbed off in the seventh inning and New York up big.

In fact, every player who got in the game had at least one hit except leadoff man Francisco Lindor who finished 0-for-3 but was hit twice.

-The Mets went 10-for-17 with runners in scoring position.

-Griffin Canning, an afterthought after the offensive onslaught that ensued after he left, pitched five scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 2.61.

-Jose Ureña made his Mets and season debut to get the final nine outs, but it was a struggle for the right-hander who allowed five runs (all in the eighth) on seven hits, including two home runs, and a walk. He struck out three and earned a save in name only.

-New York became the first team in MLB to reach 20 wins on the season.

Game MVP: Brandon Nimmo

Nimmo matched his jersey number with nine RBI on the day, tying Carlos Delgado for the most RBI in a single game in Mets history.

Highlights

An RBI double from Francisco Alvarez drives home the first run of the game! pic.twitter.com/kRLyx9kOWk

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 28, 2025

Jeff McNeil works a 10-pitch at-bat and gets a sac fly to make it 2-0 pic.twitter.com/vEreUmsZM9

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 28, 2025

Griffin Canning gets the strikeout and the double play to escape trouble in the 3rd inning pic.twitter.com/NmWSSUbGNz

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 28, 2025

Jeff McNeil is first-pitch swinging in the 5th inning for his first homer of 2025! pic.twitter.com/tWqdyiDfnY

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 28, 2025

3-RUN HOMER FOR BRANDON NIMMO!

The Mets lead 6-0! pic.twitter.com/S0AuvccBbV

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 28, 2025

Add a triple to Jeff McNeil's day! pic.twitter.com/wsX4EYKPzY

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 28, 2025

BRANDON NIMMO GRAND SLAM! HIS SECOND HOMER OF THE DAY!

METS LEAD 11-0! pic.twitter.com/8juLBbZ8yw

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 28, 2025

Brandon Nimmo joins Carlos Delgado as the only Mets to have 9 RBIs in a game! pic.twitter.com/ky8UguFBqV

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 28, 2025

What's next

The Mets return to Citi Field to begin a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks starting on Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. on SNY.

Two southpaws face off as David Peterson (1-1, 3.29 ERA) goes up against Eduardo Rodriguez (1-2, 4.40 ERA).

The Mets carried a 19-9 record into play on Monday, giving them the best mark in MLB.

Speaking on The New York Post's The Show podcast before Monday's tilt against the Nationals in Washington, D.C., owner Steve Cohen touched on a host of topics -- including Pete Alonso's hot start and uncertain future, and the uneven beginning to Juan Soto's Mets tenure.

On Pete Alonso's future

After returning to the Mets on a two-year deal with an opt-out after 2025, the obvious outcome is Alonso opting out after the season if he has a year that's up to his standards.

So far, he's blown the doors off, with a .333/.451/.646 triple slash to go along with six home runs, while leading the National League in doubles (11), OPS (1.097), and OPS+ (212).

That means barring something strange, Alonso will be a free agent again in about six months.

"We know he can opt out at the end of the year, and we'll deal with it then," Cohen said. "I just dealt with this two months ago," the owner noted with a smirk.

Cohen added: "Let it kind of play itself out. Obviously, Pete's gonna explore his market like he should -- and I'm supportive of that. And we'll see where it goes."

Before Alonso re-signed this past offseason, much was made of the fact that the market for older, offensive-minded first basemen had cratered over the last decade or so. And the belief was that David Stearns' philosophy didn't mesh with investing long term in those types of players.

But it will be interesting to see how Alonso's market develops after the season in New York and elsewhere if he is able to maintain a high on-base percentage and low strikeout rate.

On Juan Soto's slow start

Soto has showed signs lately of breaking out.

He reached base four times on Sunday and had a pair of hits on Friday, but his overall numbers in his first month as a Met haven't been great.

Soto is hitting .248/.374/.396 with a .770 OPS.

Most glaring so far is the lack of power, with Soto having gone deep just three times and in a home run drought that dates back to April 15.

But like most people, Cohen isn't worried.

"If you ask him, he'd probably say it's not going as what he hoped," Cohen said. "That's not what the back of his baseball card would say. But saying that, there's a lot of subtle things that he does that I really think matters. The way that he works the count, makes pitchers throw extra pitches, really matters.

"Then he gets on base, and Pete can drive him in. And so Pete is seeing better pitches. It's very subtle how that works, and you can't just look at it as -- in a very narrow sense.

"And saying that, I'm not worried about Juan. He's singularly focused on baseball. He's a pure hitter. Let's have this discussion at the end of the year."

Red Sox stock up, stock down: Story looks sharp; Casas struggling originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

One month into the 2025 MLB season, we’re beginning to get a clearer picture of which Boston Red Sox players will be key to the team’s success.

Alex Bregman, for instance, has arguably been the team’s MVP through the first 30 games of the campaign. Boston’s offseason addition is tied for the team lead in home runs (five) while leading in RBI (22), batting average (.319), and slugging percentage (.543).

Of course, as a two-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, Bregman’s stock already was sky-high heading into his first Red Sox season. Others in the organization have seen their stocks rise or dip drastically over the first month.

Here’s our Red Sox “Stock Up, Stock Down” update with May right around the corner:

Stock Up

Wilyer Abreu, OF

The cards were stacked against the 2024 Gold Glove right fielder heading into the 2025 season. With top prospect Roman Anthony knocking on the door to the majors, Abreu was considered the odd man out in Boston’s outfield.

Even after missing almost all of spring training with an illness, Abreu has been one of the club’s best hitters over the first month. He’s tied for the team lead in homers (five), second in RBI (18), and second in OPS (.901).

Meanwhile, Abreu has picked up where he left off as one of the league’s best defensive right fielders. He leads all players at his position with five defensive runs saved.

Kristian Campbell, 2B

Campbell has done nothing but rake at every professional level since the start of his breakout 2024 season. His breakout year earned him a spot on the MLB Opening Day roster, and he hasn’t missed a beat against big-league pitching.

As of Monday, Campbell is right there with A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson as a frontrunner for the 2025 American League Rookie of the Year award. He ranks second on the Red Sox in walks (18), second in batting average (.305), first in on-base percentage (.412), and third in OPS (.886).

If there’s anything to critique about Campbell’s game, it’s his defense. Still, the 22-year-old’s stock only continues to rise.

Trevor Story, SS

Through 29 games this season, Story has amassed more bWAR (0.9) than in any previous season with the Red Sox. His contributions at the plate and shortstop have been a breath of fresh air following three injury-plagued campaigns with the club.

We may not see Story put up his Colorado Rockies numbers in Boston, but he’s been an above-average hitter while anchoring the infield. He’ll enter Tuesday’s game in Toronto tied for the team lead in homers with five.

Carlos Narvaez, C

Narvaez has held down the fort since starting backstop Connor Wong went down with a broken pinky. Although his offensive numbers won’t jump off the page, his stellar defense has sent his stock soaring.

Through 20 games, Narvaez leads all MLB catchers with six defensive runs saved. He has been a major upgrade behind the plate, meaning Wong might have to split more playing time than he did last year when he played in 126 games.

Garrett Whitlock, RHP

After a rough 2023 and an injury-plagued 2024, Whitlock has turned the clock back to 2022 and dominated opposing hitters so far in 2025.

In 10 appearances out of the bullpen this season, Whitlock has allowed only three runs in 15.2 innings. He has also struck out 19 batters and walked only five.

The Red Sox will hope that keeping Whitlock in the bullpen will keep him healthy. If Boston clinches its first postseason berth since 2021, he’ll be a big reason why.

Aroldis Chapman, LHP

There was concern over Chapman beginning the 2025 season as Boston’s closer, and rightfully so. The 37-year-old averaged well over 5.0 walks per nine innings since 2021 and was coming off a rocky year with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

So far this season, however, Chapman has been outstanding. The veteran southpaw has consistently blown his 100-plus mph fastball past hitters while walking only four hitters in 10.1 innings of work. He has allowed only two earned runs in his 12 appearances.

Hunter Dobbins, RHP

Many didn’t know who Dobbins was before this season, but the 25-year-old has made his presence felt with two impressive outings to begin his big-league career. He has allowed only three runs while striking out 11 hitters and walking only two in 11 innings.

Dobbins is back in Triple-A, but he won’t be there for long. He’ll be called upon as a dependable depth piece throughout the year, and there’s an argument to be made for keeping him in the rotation the rest of the way.

Stock Down

Triston Casas, 1B

Casas has shown some signs of life after a horrendous start to the season, but the numbers still aren’t pretty. The 25-year-old is slashing .172/.273/.310 with three homers and 23 strikeouts through 25 games. He has also been somewhat of a liability defensively at first base.

It probably still isn’t time to panic, but Casas will be counted on to heat up in May. Otherwise, the Red Sox may have to make some tough roster decisions.

Tanner Houck, RHP

Houck was an All-Star last season after a strong first half, but it’s been all downhill since. In fact, he’s been even worse to start 2025 than he was during his disappointing second half of 2024.

Through six starts, Houck has a 7.58 ERA and 1.685 WHIP. As seen in the Baseball Savant chart below, he hasn’t done anything well besides inducing ground balls.

Baseball Savant

Houck was expected to be the Red Sox’ No. 2 starter behind ace Garrett Crochet this season. At this point, it looks like Boston will have to hope someone else steps up to take that role.

David Hamilton, 2B/SS

Hamilton was a bright spot last season while filling in for the injured Story. He has been unable to pick up where he left off.

In 13 games, the speedy infielder is hitting .067/.125/.167. He’s 2-for-30 at the plate with two walks.

Hamilton can wreak havoc on the basepaths, but he’s hardly been on base all year. His stock has taken a nosedive in 2025.

Zack Kelly, RHP

Kelly was among the most hyped-up Red Sox relievers in spring training. He has filthy stuff when he’s on, but we haven’t seen it yet in 2025. The 30-year-old has allowed 10 runs on 12 hits in 10 innings.

On the plus side, Kelly has walked only two hitters and his FIP is a solid 3.35, so there are reasons to believe he’ll snap out of his recent funk.