Category: MLB

I personally wasn’t in Boston, but looking at it on TV, that was quintessential Red Sox Opening Day weather, eh? 50s and sunny, the white uniforms back on and a city wanting to kick this team in the backside.

Well, they thankfully didn’t make this one too stressful on any of us as they rolled to a 5-2 win.

Studs

Sonny Gray (6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 K)

now THIS was the Sonny Gray start the Red Sox needed. Not even 90 pitches, six frames of pretty clean ball save for that fifth inning. Give me more of that kind of Sonny, please.

Marcelo Mayer (2-for-2, 2 runs, 2 RBI, 1 HR)

I don’t understand why Cora won’t let Mayer roll more and work out his growing pains. When he’s on like this, he’s such a consistent and smooth hitter. It’s a presence this lineup desperately needs, as I alluded to this morning.

The Bullpen (3.0 IP, 0 ER, 0 H)

The Italian Stallion Greg Weissert, no nicknamed Justin Slaten and the Cuban Missile Aroldis Chapman were phenomenal. Nuff said. Well, Chappy passing Pap is something else too.

Duds

Trevor Story (0-for-4, 1 K)

Story is in an early season slump and it shows. Completely the opposite of two years ago when he started on a tear. Then again? He also got hurt for the rest of the season three weeks in so we don’t want a repeat of that.

Play of the Game

I’m really torn because Marcelo hitting a home run is fantastic, Mut Contreras really needed that and it was the game-winning hit too.

The Double-A Birmingham Barons have been the brightest spot in the Chicago White Sox organization over these last few dreadful seasons, winning their second consecutive Southern League championship in 2025. This season will have a mix of familiar faces alongside some recent free agent signings, but it’s likely we’ll see some fluctuation throughout the season depending on how the major league season progresses.

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Starting Pitching
With Hagen Smith, Noah Schultz, Wikelman González and others moving up to Triple-A, the 2026 rotation might look a little different.

Righthander Riley Gowens will return as a staple to the Birmingham starting rotation after settling into Double-A ball nicely in his first full season at that level. Gowens tossed the most innings on the team in 2025 (132) at a solid 3.32 ERA and 1.189 WHIP. He also rang up 151 batters at a strong 28% strikeout rate. His walk rate is still a bit higher than the White Sox would like (9% BB%), but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him make the leap to Charlotte early this season; he’s more than proven that he can perform at his current level.

Despite making just four starts with the Barons in 2025, lefthander Lucas Gordon was impressive upon moving up from the High-A Winston-Salem Dash towards the end of the season. In 21 innings, he allowed five runs on nine hits, posting a 2.11 ERA and 0.750 WHIP while striking out 24 batters and walking seven. Gordon’s strikeout rate also jumped from 25.4% with the Dash to more than 31% with Birmingham, and his 2.06 FIP is in close alignment to his ERA, showing consistency if you strip out the defense.

Connor McCullough was injured for majority of the 2024 season but came back strong in 2025, joining the Barons in July after a rehab assignment with Winston-Salem and shifting back into a starting role almost seamlessly. McCullough made 13 starts (41 innings) and despite recording four losses, he ended the year with a 3.43 ERA and 0.894 WHIP, highlighting his stellar 5.8% walk rate to accompany his sound 23% strikeout percentage.

Balancing out the rotation with another durable lefty arm is Jake Palisch, who made 13 starts last season of his 29 appearances, ultimately getting the call up to the South Side at midseason but appearing in just one inning. Across both starting and relief roles, Palisch flashed a 2.14 ERA in 105 innings with a 1.067 WHIP, though he had a below-average strikeout rate (16.1%) with the Barons last season. Palisch’s elevated 3.30 FIP in comparison to his ERA suggests that an elite defense behind him might also be providing some support, so it would be interesting to see how he would perform in the majors with the current mess of a White Sox defense.

Relievers
The bullpen has quite a few returning players in Eric Adler, Phil Fox and Jared Kelley. Adler struggled throughout the 2025 season, putting up a 4.78 ERA with the Barons while averaging at a 5.89 ERA on the season, but both Kelley and Fox posted ERAs in the mid-3.00s. In his first pro season, Fox tossed 59 2/3 innings with the Dash and his 11 K/9 and 30% strikeout rate definitely helped.

New additions to the Birmingham arm barn include three recent left-handed pitching signees in Chase Watkins, Jacob Heatherly and Rylan Kaufman.

• Heatherly has struggled with shoulder injuries in the past and holds a career 5.35 ERA. Though some of his pitches have decent scouting grades in the 50-55 range, he lacks command and accumulated a whopping 22% walk rate in 2023 and even higher at 25% in 2024, completely offsetting his high strikeout rates.
• Kaufman is a former Top 30 prospect in the Kansas City but he couldn’t fully adjust to the advanced competition, averaging a 5.41 ERA in his minors career. He ended up needing Tommy John surgery and was out for the 2025 season, but has worked his fastball back up into the mid-90s.
• The South Siders picked up Watkins just last week, after he was released by the Cubs on March 23. Watkins amassed a 2.65 ERA across 40 2/3 innings in High-A, and a sharp 0.92 ERA in 29 1/3 innings once moving up to Double-A.

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Catchers
Both returning from last season, Calvin Harris and Jorge Corona will continue to split duties behind the plate, with Harris likely getting more innings. Corona has floated on and off the development list, ultimately slashing .170/.314/.270 in 100 at-bats. Harris made the jump to the Barons 31 games into the season after posting a solid .768 OPS in 119 at-bats, and slashed .253/.317/.312 in 186 ABs with Birmingham, and allowed three passed balls in 469 2/3 innings.

Position Players
If you don’t know his name by now, outfielder Braden Montgomery is one to watch this season, ranking as the top White Sox prospect at South Side Sox and at 34 in the MLB Top 100. The 22-year-old flew through the minors in his first year with the team in 2025, slashing .270/.360/.444 with a solid .804 OPS in 448 at-bats. Upon moving up to Double-A, his stats remained consistent against the tougher competition, and his defensive ability in the outfield (strong arm, speed) give him to the tools to be an All-Star caliber player in the future.

Another exciting player within the White Sox organization is Rikuu Nishida, whose ability to get on base and subsequently steal them is almost unmatched. Aside from Sam Antonacci, Nishida’s .403 OBP led the team in 2025, and he is excellent at being selective at the plate, swinging 39% of the time but making contact on nearly 86% of his swings. Not only is he elite at making contact, but Nishida walks at a higher rate than he strikes out with 75 walks compared to 69 strikeouts last season. Nishida started as a second baseman, but has since adjusted into the outfield, playing the majority of his games in right and center last season. He begins his second full year and third overall in Double-A, however, so someone at the White Sox is not impressed.

Rounding out the outfield will be Caden Connor and Wilfred Veras. Connor posted a .708 OPS with a .266 BA in 342 at-bats with the Barons, and earned a promotion up to Charlotte for 13 games. He was even better with the Knights, and posted a .422 on-base percentage that factored into his .832 OPS. If not for the half-dozen fringe major-leaguers the White Sox acquired in the offseason, Connor could well be starting 2026 in Charlotte. Veras’ arrow is pointing in the opposite direction, as his performance regressed compared to where he was at in 2022 and 2023. In fact, Nishida has nothing on Veras, as Veras is beginning his third straight full season and fourth overall in Birmingham. He slashed just .215/.293/.327 with a .620 OPS that dropped by 17% year-over-year. It’s possible Veras has reached his peak, and it will be interesting to see if he’s made any adjustments heading into this season.

Last but not least, the infield will have mostly all returning playerss with Jason Matthews, Jordan Sprinkle, Ryan Galanie and the recently-signed Andy Weber.

• Matthews had a hard time at the plate last season, putting up a measly .549 OPS in 211 ABs with Birmingham.
• Middle infielder Sprinkle was efficient enough with the Low-A Cannon Ballers (.271/.411/.295) to be promoted to Winston-Salem where he struggled to adjust, and ultimately to Double-A to close out the season. Sprinkle is quick and is able to steal bases when he gets on, but he lacks the raw power to efficiently drive in runs.
• Galanie holds down first base with plenty of power, and he’s fairly selective at the plate and doesn’t strike out a lot. He led the team in RBIs in 2025 (71), and mashed 19 doubles and seven homers.
• Weber was was signed to a minor league contract after electing free agency out of the Diamondbacks system. Likely to play second base, Weber was mostly with the Arizona’s Triple-A team last season where he posted solid numbers with a .310/.368/.434 slash line.

There’s plenty of talent with the Barons, and we’ll likely see a revolving door of players throughout the season. While maybe not having the most raw power at the plate, they have some solid arms that can keep them in games. So it might be best not to rule out a three-peat.

The Cincinnati Reds hit the road for the first time during Thursday’s day off, and on Friday began their first road series of the 2026 season.

Fortunately for them, they opened the scoring in their game against the Texas Rangers the very same way they ended it – with a major 2-run homer from a veteran off to an otherwise slow start.

Spencer Steer swatted a 2-run blast off Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore in the Top of the 2nd inning to open Cincinnati’s ledger in this one, and Tyler Stephenson effectively closed it with a 2-run homer of his own in the Top of the 9th inning off veteran righty reliever Chris Martin. Stephenson’s came with the game tied 3-3, and closer Emilio Pagan – himself a veteran entering play on Friday having sputtered out of the gate – hammered down a perfect Bottom of the 9th to give Cincinnati the 5-3 victory.

It was a classic back and forth tie that lent itself to need a big hit late, and that’s precisely what Stephenson provided. He battled into a deep count with Martin, fouling off pitches as he worked for one he could mash, and he eventually went the other way over the wall in right-center for the blast that gave Cincinnati the victory, as the Reds shared on Twitter shortly after it happened.

Now that's an AB, @Tyler_Step22❗️#ATOBTTRpic.twitter.com/unq9la5Fjx

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 3, 2026

Steer had doubled in front of Tyler, so he scored on the play. That gave him a pair of extra-base hits, pair of ribbies, and pair of runs scored on the day. Hopefully it’s a sign that he’s getting his bat going, as he’s going to be very much needed to anchor the lineup with his defensive versatility daily (as well as on days against a LHP starter). Stephenson, who’s going to get today’s Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game award, similarly went 2 for 4 with a pair of ribbies – he gets the nod for the WPA boost on the homer, I suppose.

Reds 5, Rangers 3, and happy Reds fans a million.

Other Notes

• Elly De La Cruz chipped in with a solo homer, his third of the year. It was another laser hit from the right-side of the plate, which is an incredibly good sign.
• Eugenio Suarez did not blast a mighty dinger today, but he did have another pair of hits.
• Tony Santillan kept his season ledger clean after another incredibly effective 10-pitch inning yielding zero runs. Sam Moll needed 12 pitches for his, but it was a similar good ending.
• Rhett Lowder will toe the rubber in Saturday’s game between these two clubs, doing so opposite fellow former college standout Kumar Rocker. First pitch in that one is slated for 7:05 PM ET.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Shohei Ohtani homered and the game turned into something resembling a piranha feeding at the Los Angeles Zoo, the Dodgers feasting on soft-tossing Miles Mikolas with the voracity expected of a $415-million team.

Their week-long nightmare was over. 

The Dodgers hadn’t forgotten how to score runs. They were noticeably relieved, and they deserved to be, but their debaucherous offensive display in their 13-6 victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday obscured another potential problem.

The two-time defending World Series champions might have a starting-pitching problem.

Again.

Whether they actually have an issue depends on back-end-of-the-rotation pitchers such as Emmet Sheehan. 

Regarding Sheehan specifically, the pertinent question is which was more reflective of the pitcher he will be this season: The one who was rocked early in his start or the one who put up zeroes late?

Sheehan gave up three runs in the first inning and another one in the third. By the fourth inning, he was on his third time through the Nationals’ order. In a more important game, he might not have finished that frame.

Sheehan regrouped and gave the Dodgers 5 ⅔ innings, but the team still had to be uncertain of what it had in the 26-year-old right-hander. Sheehan lasted just 3 ⅓ innings in his previous start, which followed an uninspiring spring.

Already, the Dodgers are playing with a stick of dynamite in the combustible Roki Sasaki, who is scheduled to start on Sunday in the series finale against the Nationals. 

Sasaki pitched only four innings in his first start, and he failed to make it out of the first inning in his final game of a brutal exhibition season. The Dodgers are bracing themselves for the worst-case scenario. Justin Wrobleski is scheduled to move into the rotation on Monday for their series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, but manager Dave Roberts said they had him throw his bullpen a day earlier than usual in case he has to pitch in relief of Sasaki on Sunday.

The Dodgers have three legitimate Cy Young Award contenders on their active roster in Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow, and that’s with Blake Snell sidelined with shoulder fatigue. But they have no idea what they will get out of Sheehan, Sasaki and Wrobleski on any particular day.

Carrying one starter incapable of consistently taking down innings can exhaust a bullpen that has to pick up the slack. Carrying two of them is tantamount to asking for late-game Chernobyl-level meltdowns. Carrying three? Hoo boy.

“Obviously, ideally, you’d like to carry none,” Roberts said. “Truth be told, I don’t want any of those (types of) guys. When you’re a starter, part of the deal is you’ve got to log innings. It’s part of the hallmark of starters, and Emmet and Roki have got to graduate to that point.”

Is it sustainable to have a rotation that includes two inconsistent starters?

“It’s not sustainable, no,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers found that out last season. With their rotation ravaged by injuries – Yamamoto was the only starter who pitched the entire season – Dodgers relievers combined to pitch major-league-leading 657 ⅔ innings. Their bullpen earned-run average of 4.27 was fifth-worst in the National League, contributing to an underwhelming regular-season win total of 93.

Snell isn’t expected to return until the end of next month, and the onus will be on Sheehan, Sasaki and Wrobleski to pitch deep enough into games to ensure the bullpen remains relatively fresh.

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Sheehan acknowledged he had to do better than he did on Thursday.

“Obviously, it’s still a work in progress,” he said. “The stuff is not really where it should be right now. There’s more in the tank.”

Sheehan’s average fastball velocity was 95.6 mph last season, and that number has dropped significantly this year. The average speed of his fastball was 93.8 mph against the Nationals.

Sheehan blamed the decline in velocity to mechanics and not health. That claim was supported by how his two fastest pitches – clocked at 95.7 and 95.4 mph respectively – were thrown in the sixth inning.

The ever-upbeat Roberts said he put more stock in the second half of Sheehan’s start than the first.

“I think today was a step in the right direction,” he said. “I think we talked about (how) he has to give us length, and he did that today, touching six (innings). 

“He looked like a major league starter and not a guy that’s cutting his teeth.”

The Dodgers will need more of that, especially with Sasaki pitching just days after him.

The Cubs lost to the Guardians 4-1 Friday afternoon in Cleveland, but that’s not the big story of the day.

That, of course, is the apparent injury to Cade Horton in the second inning.

Here’s what happened [VIDEO].

It’s really hard to tell what actually went on there. There was no obvious sign of any sort of pain from Horton, but he immediately signaled for the dugout and left the game.

Later, it was announced by the Cubs via the Marquee Sports Network broadcast that Horton left due to “right forearm discomfort.” Which… isn’t good. That sort of thing is sometimes a precursor to Tommy John surgery. Or maybe it’s not. We just don’t know at this time. Hopefully, the Cubs will have an update later this evening, or tomorrow. For now all we, and the Cubs, can do is hope for the best.

Horton faced only four batters. From BCB’s JohnW53:

Before today, the last Cubs starter, excluding “openers,” to exit after facing no more than four batters was Alec Mills, on July 2, 2022, at home against the Red Sox. He struck out the leadoff man on a 2-2 count, then gave up a double on an 0-1 count. He injured his back, went on the Injured List and was lost for the season.

Colin Rea, who did such a good job last year filling into the rotation when Justin Steele was injured, did a great job in this one as well. He threw 3.1 innings, allowed four hits and a run and struck out four. If Rea needs to fill in, there’s at least a competent replacement for Horton, though obviously not at the same talent level.

Here’s a breakdown of Rea’s 57-pitch outing [VIDEO].

The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. Pete Crow-Armstrong led off with a double and stole third. Miguel Amaya then doubled, with PCA scoring [VIDEO].

Amaya was serving as the DH in this one with Carson Kelly catching. He’s been doing that vs. left-handed starters. I continue to think that Amaya is primed to have a big offensive season, presuming he can stay healthy.

Hoby Milner relieved Rea in the fifth and allowed one inherited runner to score on a single by hotshot rookie Chase DeLauter, but four-time Gold Glover Ian Happ threw out the trailing runner at the plate [VIDEO].

Happ’s going to win another Gold Glove this year. That has value. I think it’d be worth keeping him around for a while longer.

Hunter Harvey relieved Milner in the seventh and served up a solo homer to Gabriel Arias that gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead. A walk to Steven Kwan followed and then DeLauter smashed a two-run shot, his fifth of the young season. (The Cubs have just six home runs as a team so far this year.) Not a good outing for Harvey, who faced just five batters, two of whom went deep.

Happ decided to challenge a strike three call leading off the ninth [VIDEO].

That was pretty obviously in the zone, but I suppose with two challenges left and three outs to go, it was worth using one.

This was yet another game where the offense simply didn’t produce — four hits and two walks isn’t going to score too many runs, and it didn’t. Can’t use the weather as an excuse here, the temp was in the 70s. The Cubs bats are simply going to have to do better.

The game was the fifth loss in a row for the Cubs in Cleveland dating to 2021, though the Cubs did sweep the Guardians at Wrigley Field last year. Hopefully, the result will be better tomorrow, and we’ll get good news about Horton. Fingers crossed.

The Cubs and Guardians will play the second game of this series Saturday evening at Progressive Field. Shōta Imanaga will start for the Cubs and Slade Cecconi goes for Cleveland. Game time is 6:15 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Fox-TV (regional — coverage map, scroll to the bottom of that link).

Aaron Judge perhaps set the tone for the Yankees’ 124th home opener Friday afternoon long before the first pitch or his key home run in the first inning. The night before the Yanks met the Marlins at Yankee Stadium, Judge sent a team-wide text:

“Suits tomorrow.”

So the Yankees showed up decked out in their finery, perhaps a sartorial declaration of a kind.

“That’s Cap…so everybody was fired up,” Ben Rice said.

Aaron Boone was grinning over the snazzy threads in the morning, hours before the Yankees beat the Marlins, 8-2. Seeing his players so nattily dressed, the manager said, helped show the importance of the first game of the year at Yankee Stadium.

“When they’re rolling in in suits today, I know that’s meaningful,” Boone said.

It’s been a remarkable season for the Yankees so far (caveat: it’s early). But the 6-1 Yanks ooze talent and potential. It all starts with Judge, just like, basically, their seventh game of the season did.

After the Marlins grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Xavier Edwards’ solo homer – the first home run allowed by a Yankee pitcher this season – Judge immediately responded. Trent Grisham led off with a walk and then Judge pounded a two-run homer for an instant lead. They never trailed again.

“They came out swinging, got a run on us,” Judge said. “Grish had a great at-bat in front of me. I'm just trying to do my job, which is to try to get him over, to get a good pitch and drive it. So, just happy to answer back.”

There is always outsized attention on Judge because he’s one of today’s great stars, probably the best hitter in baseball. It’s never too early – in some folks’ minds, anyway – to fret over his numbers if they are not Judge-ian. He entered Friday batting .125, not the sort of thing that goes unnoticed in the Yankee fishbowl, even if he had already hit two home runs so far, too.

If you are frantic over Judge’s start, maybe take a deep breath. It’ll be OK. Promise. Heck, he’s on pace for around 69 home runs right now.

Friday, his third homer put the Yankees ahead for good and was the highlight of what turned into a big game for both star and team. Judge reached base four times and was 2-for-3, scored twice, drove in three runs, walked and even stole a base. He was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded – more on that in a moment – to force in a run.

Beyond thumbing out texts to the boys, Judge has long been good at establishing something early in games. Friday’s homer was the 86th of his career in the first inning. Last year, he smacked 20 first-inning home runs, an MLB record, for a 94-win team.

Only two other Yankees had more first-inning homers in their careers – Babe Ruth (126) and Mickey Mantle (103). Those two sure played on a lot of winning teams, didn’t they? (Yes, we know they piled up championships, too, while Judge and these Yankees have not won the World Series. Yet).

It’s what they yearn to do. And their top tone-setter will surely play an enormous role in that pursuit. He authors some of the most meaningful swings among the current Yanks – since 2019, 138 of Judge’s 288 home runs have either tied the score or given the Yanks the lead, the team said.

That, in part, is why it’s “never a surprise,” Boone said, when Judge delivers like he did in the first inning. “Really good answer to them putting a run up on the board,” Boone said. “And, you know, I think it allowed Will (Warren, the starting pitcher) to get in a good rhythm, too.”

The Yanks got a jolt in the second inning when Judge was hit on the arm by an errant pitch from Marlins starter Eury Pérez with the bases full. Judge seemed fine and remained in the game, not that it wasn’t scary, too.

“Felt like he was probably OK, but I tend to jump up a little quicker when it’s him,” Boone said. “Yeah, you always hold your breath there a little bit, any time it’s running up and in there like that. I think it got him on the forearm, kind of the meaty part, so you knew in short order, we’re all right.”

Added Judge: “I've broken my wrist like that, so that's always your main concern. But once you feel like everything's intact, you should take it to first.”

The Yanks scored twice in the second inning without a hit, thanks to Pérez’s wildness and their own speed. They kept adding on, too. Rice homered in the seventh and smashed a two-run double in the eighth.

But Judge set the tone, stylistically and otherwise.

“That’s what he does best,” Rice said, referring to Judge’s vital homer.

“He’s so good at that.”

Ben Rice said that Aaron Judge texted in the Yankees group chat for everyone to wear suits for the home opener today pic.twitter.com/1fVwhlQ8tz

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 3, 2026

Blue Jays 4 at White Sox 5 (10)

A few weeks ago, I came across a humourous yet apt video describing this time of year as sucker punch spring for the swings in the weather. Apparently it also applies to the beginning of the season for the Blue Jays, as for the second successive game they took a tough extra inning loss that they even more painful than Wednesday’s.

Facing his former team, Dylan Cease was not particularly sharp, racking up 93 pitches without finishing the 5th inning, finishing with a final line of 3 runs on 5 hits in 4.1 innings. 3 walks against 6 strikeouts. He got into trouble right from the start, walking leadoff hitter Chase Meidroth before Munetaka Murakami drilled a single so hard he had to hold up at first to put runners on the corners.

Cease did limit the damage to one run, but another walk in the 3rd got him into more trouble in the 3rd. An infield single put two on, followed by a double steal which allowed Austin’s Hay single to plate two runs. The last walk with one out in the 5th inning ended his afternoon. Braydon Fisher held the line in retiring the next two hitters and working around back-to-back singles to start the 6th with a couple of strikeouts sandwiched around a pickoff. Brandon Little and Louis Varland followed with good shutout innings.

It looked like enough damage might already have been done however, as the Jays bats were largely asleep. Opener Grant Taylor dispatched them in order in the first. Sean Burke was welcomed rudely with a pair of doubles by Addison Barger and Alejandro Kirk to tie the game, but then he largely shut them down for the next 6 innings, working around a few hits here and there.

Just when it looked like the Jays might be going down as quietly as they did Wednesday afternoon, the White Sox went back to the bullpen for Jordan Leasure and once again the first two batters struck. Ernie Clement singled before Andres Gimenez resurrected the Jays’ hopes with a drive down the right field line for a game tying home run.

Skipping forward to extras, the Clement moved the Manfred Man over to third with one out but Gimenez struck out. The Jays caught a huge break when what should have been an inning ending roller to third pulled Murakami off the first base bag to plate the run.

It looked like that might be the decisive break, as Jeff Hoffman came out of the save. Despite the White Sox too moving their runner over with out, Hoffman too got a strikeout to leave them one out away. However, a foul tip off his wrist caused Kirk to depart (hopefully, that’s not the decisive break of the game). Derek Hill immediately challenged replacement Tyler Heineman by dropping down a bunt. Heineman not only didn’t get the out, allowing the tying run to cross, but threw it up the line to put the winning run in scoring position. Setting up former Ray (of course) Tristan Peters to line the game winning single to right field.

Jays of the Day: The extra inning Manfred Man confounds the raw WPA, as both Ernie Clement (+0.19 WPA) and George Springer (+0.39) have big numbers that are largely undeserved. So instead we’ll go with Gimenez (+0.07) for the critical HR, Varland (+0.11) and Rogers (+0.14) for important shutout relief innings, with hat tips to Fisher (+0.06) and Little (+0.02).

Boo Jays: By the numbers, Hoffman with the brutal -.800, but that neither accounts for the nature of the runners in extras nor how things happened. Instead, we’ll stick with Okamoto (-0.18) for the 0/4 golden sombrero, Cease (-0.15), Sanchez (-0.15) with the 0/5 sombrero, and I think Heineman for the wild throw though coming in cold.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, the Jays will look to even the series when they’ll send, well, someone to the mound in Cody Ponce’s spot to face old friend Anthony Kay

The Texas Rangers scored three runs but the Cincinnati Reds scored five runs runs.

The Reds hit three home runs and the Rangers had a bunch of hard-hit balls that went for outs and after a tied game through eight innings, Chris Martin allowed two, two-strike extra base hits — including Cincy’s third dong of the game — and the Rangers are now 0-1 at The Shed in 2026.

Player of the Game: Other than a couple of poorly located pitches, a three-run outing with nine Ks and zero walks over six innings is something you’d happily take from your starter. No victory today for Mackenzie Gore, however, but he’s been a bright spot through two starts so far this season.

Up Next: The Rangers and Reds are right back at it tomorrow evening with RHP Kumar Rocker making his 2026 debut at last opposite RHP Rhett Lowder for Cincinnati.

Saturday’s first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 6:05 pm CDT and you can watch it on the Rangers Sports Network.

Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger had a highlight-reel catch in the ninth inning of Friday's home-opening win over the Miami Marlins.

With none out and a 1-1 count for left-hander Ryan Yarbrough, Xavier Edwards laced an 85 mph cutter over Bellinger's shoulder and to the warning track.

Leaping near the wall, Bellinger initially missed off the heel of his glove before swiping down and snagging the ball for the catch.

Cody Bellinger HOW?! pic.twitter.com/W7GXc80f5t

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 3, 2026

"Well, I definitely thought I had it from the jump," Bellinger said. "I should've caught it the first time. I don't even know. I think I squeezed the glove too early, and it just kind of dropped in front of me and I just got lucky. I definitely got lucky. I threw my glove out there."

Upon making the play, Bellinger spun and raised his arms with a smile while Yarbrough applauded from the mound.

"I genuinely thought I caught it the first time," Bellinger said. "I feel like I had a good beat on it the whole way, and I don't know -- I think I caught it off my wrist. I don't really know exactly what happened there. So, I'm just glad I came down with it then and there."

Bellinger's afternoon at Yankee Stadium included a 1-for-4 day offensively, hitting a ground-rule double to lead off the fifth inning before working an eighth-inning walk and subsequently scoring on Ben Rice's two-out double, polishing off the 8-2 final for New York (6-1) against Miami (5-2).

"We've been doing a great job," Bellinger said. "We're playing great baseball. We love each other in here. I think we have a pretty good idea, plan of who we are and what we want to do, and it's a tough competitor on the mound -- he's got really good stuff. So, ultimately, we did a really good job of controlling the zone, doing some damage there -- Ben Rice came through with a few big hits -- and, overall, just a really good game."

After last night’s offensive explosion which saw the Braves score nearly as many runs (17) as they had in their first six games combined (24), a left-handed starter on the mound for Arizona is forcing Atlanta to switch things up in the lineup.

With Eduardo Rodriguez (0-0, 0.00 ERA) taking the mound for the Diamondbacks, Ozzie Albies is up in the three-hole spot he’s consistently batted in against lefty starters this season. In a small sample size this season, the average splits have not been drastic for the switch-hitter (.300 vs. lefties, .294 vs. righties). But the slugging hits have been drastic, as he’s slugging .600 vs. lefties and .294 vs. righties with five hits, all of them singles.

Additionally, Eli White is back in the lineup hitting sixth and Jonah Heim will make his third appearance of the season behind the plate hitting ninth. It could have been an opportunity to give Baldwin an off night with Kyle Farmer 4-for-7 with a homer in his career vs. Rodriguez, but that would have denied Baldwin the opportunity to break the franchise record he tied last night when he scored a run for the seventh straight game to start a season.

Day 2 in Arizona!

📻: @680TheFan
📺: @AppleTV#BravesCountrypic.twitter.com/lRvFU7Ls1S

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 3, 2026

Matt Olson is the only other Brave with a career homer against Rodriguez. Ronald Acuña Jr. is 2-for-6 with a double and three strikeouts, while Albies and Mauricio Dubon, who is back in the lineup batting seventh, are each 2-for-4.

The top four of Arizona’s lineup will remain the same for Thursday’s game, although Corbin Carroll will now be in right after DHing Game 1 while Gabriel Moreno will DH Friday after catching the series opener. James McCann, who pitched the ninth of Thursday’s blowout loss, will catch and bat seventh on Friday.

The drastic (and unfortunate) change for Arizona is promising young outfielder Jordan Lawlar being pulled from the lineup after it was revealed that he sustained a fractured wrist on a hit-by-pitch after hitting his first career homer earlier in the game. He’s been replaced by Tim Tawa (.204 career hitter in 206 career at-bats), who will hit ninth in the D-Backs order.

No Arizona hitter has faced Braves starter Grant Holmes more than five times. Moreno (2-for-5) and Alek Thomas (2-for-4) are the only player with multiple hits against him.

Serpientes are back. pic.twitter.com/oaATVNhMGH

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) April 3, 2026

It all started so well, but the Nats dreams of winning the home opener collapsed quickly, as the Dodgers lineup showed why they are elite. The Nats were up 3-0 after two innings thanks to a CJ Abrams homer, but the Dodgers turned that into an 11-4 deficit in what felt like a blink of an eye. While the Nats have competed with the Cubs and Phillies, the Dodgers showed them levels today.

In this game, one thing stuck out like a sore thumb, and it was the performance of starting pitcher Miles Mikolas. He re-wrote Nationals history today, but not in a good way. The veteran right hander allowed 11 earned runs, the most in team history. Both of Mikolas’ starts with the Nats have been shaky at best, and he has not given the team a chance to win.

Miles Mikolas has officially been charged with a Nationals club-record 11 earned runs.

— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) April 3, 2026

The craziest part is how fast things got out of control. Through the first two innings, Mikolas was cruising, getting the first six Dodgers hitters out. However, when you don’t have elite stuff, things can get ugly if you make mistakes. That is exactly what happened for Mikolas. 

Blake Butera was in awe of the Dodgers lineup, saying Mikolas “had to be almost perfect against these guys”. He was perfect in the first two innings, but when he stopped being perfect, disaster struck. From the third inning on, it felt like the Dodgers were taking batting practice. Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages all took Mikolas deep.

He was facing a tough lineup, but it just feels like Mikolas is a guy at the end of the line. The veteran will not be going anywhere, at least for now. Butera said they will watch the video, then Mikolas and the staff will work on how to make adjustments. It would feel a bit unfair to only give Mikolas two starts, but he is going to have to put together some competitive outings, and fast.

Between the third and fifth inning, the Dodgers scored 11 runs. This avalanche just drowned the Nats, even though their offense was solid today. Later in the game, Kyle Tucker hit the Dodgers fifth home run. It was his first one with the club, and it was the cherry on top for the defending champs.

Kyle Tucker just hit his first home run as a Dodger.

It's the Dodgers' fifth home run of the day.

Tucker hit it 101.6 mph off the bat and it went 404 feet. It caps off a three-hit day for him.pic.twitter.com/ZJSEUluH2T

— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) April 3, 2026

While the Mikolas disaster will rightfully take up the headlines, the Nats offense looked promising once again. Everyone in the lineup actually got a hit. You do not see that often in a game you lose by 7. I guess that just shows the might of the Dodgers lineup. 

One guy I want to highlight is the man who got the party started and sent Nats fans into a frenzy in the first. That would be CJ Abrams, who hit his second home run in as many games. Both of his homers were quite similar. He has a unique ability to pull outside pitches for homers. That is what he did for both of his three run shots in the last couple games. 

CJ Abrams might be the best puller of outside pitches for home runs I’ve EVER seen

He does this like twice a week 😂 pic.twitter.com/bHaxp0oSSN

— Fuzzy (@fuzzyfromyt) April 3, 2026

Hot starts are nothing new for Abrams. He has had tremendous first half numbers each of the last two seasons before tailing off at the end. For his part, Blake Butera does not really think Abrams is off to a hot start. He said, “I am not really sure I would call this a hot start, this is just CJ”. 

He acknowledged that Abrams does need to put a full season together, but is confident that will happen. Butera talked about how if CJ can stick to his process, take things day to day and not get too wrapped up in small samples one way or the other, the consistency will come.

I am pretty bullish on Abrams keeping things up. With the new coaching staff and technology, he will have more tools to lean on when he inevitably goes through a rough stretch. The big thing for Abrams is preventing those rough weeks from turning into rough months.

Another hitter that has impressed me, really since Spring Training is Brady House. He looks like a completely different hitter this season. The confidence looks way higher and he is much more in control of his at bats. 

House taking two walks today felt really notable. He already has four walks in seven games. Last season, he only had 8 walks in 73 games. This is not a fluke, House just looks way more comfortable. 

Brady House has two walks today. That's four walks in seven games. He is halfway to eight, which was his walk total in 73 games a season ago.

— Andrew Golden (@andrewcgolden) April 3, 2026

House has a history of starting slow at a new level before solving it. We saw that in Triple-A, where he really struggled in 2024, before mashing his way to a big league call up in 2025. Now, it looks like he is figuring things out at the MLB level. Big league pitchers will adjust back, so he will have to be constantly evolving. However, House feels like he has found his footing in the box.

Obviously, today was a very discouraging home opener, but you could still find some silver linings. Jake Irvin will take the mound tomorrow, and hopefully his new look arsenal will play against the Dodgers. He was impressive in his first start of the season, but the homer prone righty is going up against an unforgiving Dodgers lineup.

Hopefully, the Dodgers got all the runs out of their system today and the Nats can bounce back these next two games. It was not the result anyone wanted, but it was nice to be back at Nationals Park and covering the home opener for the first time in the press booth.

UPDATE: Tonight’s game has been postponed due to expected inclement weather. The game will be made up tomorrow, when the Royals and Brewers will play a double header with games at 1:10 and 6:10. Good news for those without Apple TV access; both games tomorrow will be on Brewers TV.

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The Milwaukee Brewers, coming off a 5-1 homestand to kick off the season, take their show on the road for the first time tonight when they take on the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. (Check out Harrison’s series preview here.) Chad Patrick is scheduled to pitch for the Brewers, while Luinder Avila will make his first career start after debuting with 13 (effective) relief outings down the stretch last seasonAv. There is weather in the area, though, so keep an eye out for delays.

Milwaukee swept the White Sox in their first series of the season and then took two of three from the Rays, and there was no shortage of dramatics along the way. Kansas City opened the season by losing two of three in Atlanta, but took two in a three-game series with the Twins to open their home schedule.

Patrick is coming off a start in which his final line wasn’t bad, but in which he didn’t seem to have his best stuff. He allowed just one run in 4 1/3 innings, but the White Sox made some hard, tough-luck contact toward the end of the outing. Still, he walked only one batter compared to four strikeouts, and his pitch count (74 in 4 1/3 innings) wasn’t disastrous.

Avila, a righty, counts as a rookie, though, as mentioned, he made 13 appearances and threw 14 effective innings (1.29 ERA, 2.14 FIP) last season, all but one in September. Avila isn’t a complete non-prospect (he ranked 19th on MLB Pipeline’s Royals list going into 2025 and 9th in 2026), but he’s never been a top 100 prospect. Avila does through pretty hard (he features a four-seam fastball and a sinker which sit at about 96 mph) but intriguingly he threw his curveball more than any other pitch last season, a whopping 43% of the time. We’ll see if that persists into this season, when he’ll presumably take a slightly different approach as a starter. He has struggled with control in the minors, and even when he was so good at the end of last season, he walked almost four batters per nine innings. Avila also made two scoreless appearances totaling four innings for the champions from Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic this spring, though he walked as many guys as he struck out and was perhaps fortunate to get through unscathed.

The Brewers’ lineup is, unsurprisingly, packed with lefties (their clearly stronger side, with Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn out) against the right-handed Avila. Of note, David Hamilton is getting the start at shortstop, while Luis Rengifo slides into the starting lineup at third base. Joey Ortiz will start the game on the bench tonight. One right-handed surprise, though, is Brandon Lockridge in left-field, who gets a start versus the right-hander over the switch-hitter, Blake Perkins.

An old friend is in the Kansas City lineup tonight; Isaac Collins, who has warmed up a bit after a tough start, is in left field for the Royals. The main attraction, of course, is superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., batting second, who might be almost as good as Brice Turang.

There’s also Brewers news that doesn’t directly involve the major-league team: Cooper Pratt’s extension has been finalized, and he’s been added to the 40-man roster (and optioned to Triple-A Nashville, where he played last weekend). Steward Berroa has been designated for assignment to open that roster spot.

Tonight’s game, scheduled for 6:45 (but again, watch the weather), is exclusively on Apple TV. If you’re not an Apple TV subscriber, the game will, as usual, be on the Brewers Radio Network.

Catch us exclusively on @AppleTV tonight

📺: Apple TV
📻: WTMJ#ThisIsMyCrew x @NicoletLawpic.twitter.com/SQgmb9SSD6

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 3, 2026

Fresh series headed your way. pic.twitter.com/VNBSKlFErk

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 3, 2026

Christian Scott’s first start of the season at Triple-A Syracuse did not go as planned, as the Mets’ right-hander was roughed up for seven runs in 3.1 innings.

The 26-year-old, who is coming off Tommy John surgery that cost him nearly two years of baseball, surrendered those seven runs (six earned) on nine hits and one hit batter before being pulled in the fourth after throwing 65 pitches. 

On the positive side of things, Scott tallied five strikeouts and was around the zone a lot, throwing 46 strikes. He posted a 37 percent called-strike plus whiff rate and his fastball velocity stayed rather consistent from inning to inning, averaging 95.7 mph, which is up 1.5 mph. 

However, he allowed a lot of really solid contact, with the visiting Toledo Mud Hens cracking five balls with an exit velocity over 102 mph. 

The first inning was the lone inning the righty didn’t allow a hard-hit ball, but he was stung for a run due to a bit of tough luck when Max Clark’s bloop down the left-field line just stayed fair and MJ Melendez’s errant throw to second base allowed Clark – who wasn’t even attempting to advance – to reach third on a two-base error. On the next pitch, Scott was called for a balk by the home plate umpire, apparently after not coming to a full set, plating the run. 

The righty rebounded with two strikeouts to end the frame, getting Trei Cruz looking at a 98 mph heater up in the zone and Jace Jung swinging through an up-and-away slider.

After Melendez atoned for his mistake with a solo shot in the home half of the first, Scott gave the runs right back, surrendering an opposite-field solo homer to right by Eduardo Valencia (103.5 mph off the bat) on a slider and Gage Workman pulling a shot to right-center (109.3 mph) on a down-and-in slider.

Scott then threw six-straight fastballs to get ex-Met Tomas Nido and Ben Malgeri swinging after the homers as he looked to settle back into things.

However, three straight singles started the third, scoring a fourth run off Scott. But that was all, as he got Jung swinging on an offspeed pitch and Valencia to line into a double-play to second on a sharply hit ball (102.7 mph) to end the frame.

After getting a flyout to start the fourth, the wheels came off. Nido got a measure of revenge, lacing a double (107.1 mph) to left on a first-pitch middle-middle fastball. Scott left another fastball middle-middle, and Malgeri got his revenge, rocketing it to the right-center gap for a double (109.1 mph).

After hitting a batter and a mound visit, Scott left another fastball in the middle of the plate, and Wenceel Perez drove it over Melendez's head for an RBI double, and that ended the right-hander’s afternoon.

On the day it was announced that Ozzie Guillén would be honored with a number retirement ceremony in August, the White Sox responded by grinding out a 5-4 win in 10 innings.

In the 10th, the White Sox lost the lead for the first time in the game after a careless error — then rallied in the bottom half by forcing Toronto in a careless error themselves. Newcomers Derek Hill and Tristan Peters (who both faced key setbacks earlier in the game) were the key to the win, perhaps truly signalling a real difference in the 2026 team.

The pilot of 2005’s famed “grinders” who went wire-to-wire as division leaders and ran off 11 wins in 12 games to capture the title would have been proud. Right after the live announcement after the top of the third inning, the White Sox rallied to take a 3-1 lead over Toronto, buoyed by a double-steal of second and third.

With one out, Miguel Vargas walked and Colson Montgomery singled softly to third base, before triggering the double steal, one that caught Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto on his heels for a pair of easy swipes. From there, Austin Hays turned a full-count inside fastball burning at 98 mph for the lead safety:

And just for extra measure, Chase Meidroth saw Okamoto laying back and dropped a deliciously perfect bunt single in the fourth.

But just like the 2005 White Sox, whose supposed grindiness belied immaculate pitching from 1-12, today’s story was the buff arms on the Chicago side. Reliever Grant Taylor got the start as opener, and threw nine pitches, all strikes. He worked a fast and fearsome first frame.

Taylor gave way to bulk pitcher Sean Burke, and aside from an initial hiccup in the second that saw back-to-back doubles tie the game, 1-1, the righthander carried on what Taylor began. Burke was sharp, aggressive, and efficient enough to take the game through the seventh. Those six innings of four-hit, one-run, seven-K ball represented the longest White Sox outing of the season.

In the other dugout, it was veteran and former White Sox Dylan Cease who seemed to be pitching through some nerves and fighting with his focus and command. His error covering first base on a grounder to Vlad Guerrero Jr. allowed Meidroth to scamper home with the first White Sox run. Always durable but not always efficient, Cease got the collar after 93 pitches with one out in the fourth, and was in line for the loss.

Why just in line for the loss? Well, as is its wont, the White Sox bullpen caved. Two batters after Burke left the game, Andrés Giménez clobbered a first-pitch fastball out to right, and just like that the score was knotted at three.

But let’s not drop this at Leasure’s spikes only; the White Sox shut down their offense just three innings once again, striking out eight times (12 total in the game) and stumbling on the basepaths (Peters was picked off of second base in the sixth inning, and the eighth ended on a strike-’em-out, throw-’em-out of Hill).

With the game still tied heading into the bottom of the ninth, the White Sox hoped to improve on their mere three sayonara wins all year in 2025, but despite getting leadoff man Edgar Quero on with a single (four hard hits for Edgar on the day, two dropping for hits) and sacrificing pinch-runner Lenyn Sosa to second, they fell short.

In the 10th, Toronto took its first lead of the game after Vargas pulled Munetaka Murakami off of the bag for an error that allowed Manfred Man David Schneider to score.

A productive out pushed Manfred Man Vargas to third to start the White Sox 10th, and thus commenced a crazy sequence to finish the game. After Austin Hays caught a break on a third strike he did not check on but got a generous call from the first-base ump, catcher Alejandro Kirk then saved the lead with an incredible stop on a wild split-fingered pitch. On the very next toss, Hays fouled the ball off and sent Kirk from the game with an injured thumb.

Hays ended up striking out, but Hill stepped right out with a gutsy bunt, challenging new catcher Tyler Heineman and succeeding, as Heineman threw the ball past first base and allowing Vargas to tie the game.

Two pitches later, Peters stroked a single to right for the game-winner.

“There’s a ton of fight here,” Peters said postgame, after being doused by ice water in 50° weather. “We’re just going to move forward on every game.”

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Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Remember to send in your questions for our weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

The idiot that said, “Harper is coming” asks:What are your general thoughts about the team as currently constructed?Good enough as is? Need a big splash at the deadline? Few tweaks to get the job done? Not good enough?

We’ll give the obvious caveat that things are early, injuries can and will pop up at some point, and that can affect how the trade deadline looks for the Yankees down the line. However, out of the gate it looks like the Yankees are getting vindicated in their choice to run it back with largely the same roster as last year. Things aren’t perfect — I’m not expecting much from Ryan McMahon’s bat, for instance, but starting off ice cold isn’t going to do him any favors — and so minor tweaks looks like the soundest option of the bunch, but the pieces are there to make a charge at the best record in the AL again. The rotation firing on all cylinders right off the bat is a massively encouraging sign, as we all know the cavalry is coming to reinforce their ranks over the next month or so and if the likes of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, and Clarke Schmidt start off close to form they’ll have one of the most dominant pitching staffs we’ve seen in a minute.

The question of how they actually improve the roster when it comes time to scan the market in the summer is a curious one, and might prove to be one of the more challenging midseason revamps Brian Cashman has had to navigate with this core. There’s a lot of money locked down to the contracts and starters that they have, so on top of getting any additions they’d have to weigh what they do with the players getting replaced. The cost of game-changing deadline acquisitions is always pricy, and the Yankees have rarely waded in those waters unless it was for a need rather than a want, but even dealing with more of the mid-tier pickups like they tend to browse through will still come at a cost if they’re shipping off contracts in exchange/in separate deals. For now, it’s just speculation, but I could see this being a quieter July much like the winter was unless something drastically changes.

OLDY MOLDY asks:Will MLB start seeing the tanking problems like the NBA?

The sport isn’t set up the same way to enable tanking, so no. There’s the rare uber prospect that jumps straight through the minor leagues and reaches the majors within a year or so, but you’re just as likely to see that happen from the 30th overall pick as you are the 3rd. Most prospects instead follow the similar pattern of needing multiple years of seasoning down on the farm before ever making an impact with their big league club, and crucially the success of a franchise is dependent on how well they hit across a draft class as a whole rather than who’s available with their first-round pick. Sure, the earlier picks have a clearer road to the majors overall, but more than any other sport baseball has rosters filled with players picked late in the draft — and that’s without even touching the separate system they have for international prospects that is unique to them. Add onto that the multiple roads to professional baseball allowing players to make the jump straight from high school ball or wait out almost all of their college years provides a stark difference in how classes can differ — one year can skew heavily towards prep players that showcase high ceilings but their floors have sunk into the basement, while others can provide consistency with a depth of college stars. Which way organizations lean can allow them to drastically outdraft their rivals regardless of where they sit on the draft boards, and the top teams in MLB are certainly not scared to sacrifice draft positioning to secure top-tier talent in free agency.

MSP Giant asks: It is a reasonable guess that Grisham is not the Yankees CF next year. IMHO he will find it hard to duplicate 2025 numbers again. I could be wrong, but… Riddle me this. That being the case, if Spencer has a good season, cuts down on his SOs and still hits well and Domínguez has a solid season. Does acceptably well from both sides of the plate and improves his D…. Who joins Judge in the starting OF next year?

In a world where both of these things align simultaneously, the Yankees would have a difficult choice on their hands, but I think they’d ultimately side with the younger player in Domínguez. Yes, the clock has already started on his service time, but a near-two year gap feels significant and Domínguez has already shown them something in the majors while Jones would still be an unknown at this level. However, if you asked which one of them feels more likely to find that adaptation, I’d lean towards Jones figuring out the hole in his swing faster than Domínguez manages to fix whatever has gone wrong with him in the outfield. Add onto that Domínguez’s secondary issue with his lefty-right splits (which, to his credit, looked better in spring than they did last year) and there’s less of an impediment for Jones to cross. Still, it won’t be as easy as hand-waving the strikeouts away — he swings and misses a lot, and that would be exposed just as much as Domínguez’s defense was in the majors.