Category: MLB

Philadelphia Phillies boss Dave Dombrowski wasn’t evasive Tuesday, didn’t try to be politically correct and didn’t bother to soothe anyone’s feelings.

He wanted to hire Alex Cora to be the team's next manager.

He might have even begged Cora at times to be their manager, saying that not only is he one of the finest managers in the game, but a future Hall of Famer.

Dombrowski didn’t even bother to wait 24 hours after Cora was fired by the Boston Red Sox on Saturday to offer him the Phillies managerial job with Rob Thomson still employed.

It wasn’t until Monday morning that Cora, in the second year of a three-year, $21.75 million contract, told Dombrowski that he was sorry, but he was going home to Puerto Rico for the summer. He wanted to be a “full-time dad" for his eight-year-old twin sons with a daughter in graduate school.

“I thought he might take it, but as time went on over the next day,’’ Dombrowski said after making the offer Sunday, “it was apparent from his perspective that he wanted to take time with his family."

Dombrowski, Phillies president of baseball operations, was disappointed, but certainly understood Cora’s reasoning. He then had to make a huge decision himself.

Should he stick with Thomson, or fire him anyway, and determine if there’s anyone in the organization who could make a difference?

“There's no question we have the talent," Dombrowski kept saying.

So, he telephoned Don Mattingly, their bench coach and the son of Phillies GM Preston Mattingly, and asked if he’d please take over the Phillies for the remainder of the season.

Mattingly, 65, who said in January that he didn’t have the energy to manage again after stints with the Dodgers and Marlins, agreed to at least ride out the rest of the season. The Mattinglys make history by becoming the first father and son to be a GM and manager for an MLB team.

Mattingly won’t be around long, just the rest of the summer, but Dombrowski still believes a change of voice is all that’s needed to have this team playing deep into October.

“This isn’t a blame game…," Dombrowski said in his press conference. “I just don’t think we’re playing up to our capabilities. I think we’re a much better club than we played. And so you make tough decisions that are tough at times….

“Four years ago, he was the right voice for us with the club that we had. There was no question about it. I just think we needed a different voice with this group where we are now."

So, Thomson, who had the finest winning percentage in Phillies’ history, leading the Phillies to four consecutive postseason berths, is out the door.

Cora will be waiting at the door and most likely will be the Phillies’ top target after the season, barring Mets owner Steve Cohen from offering a contract so lucrative that he can’t ignore.

And Mattingly is now inside the room, hoping to somehow make a difference with a team that’s grossly underperforming.

Since returning from the injured list on April 22, Juan Soto has been the Mets' DH in all five games he's played.

Looking to avoid a long-term injury, the team said they would take it slow with his return from a calf injury and has not inserted him back into the outfield yet. But by now, some could have expected him to have played at least one game in the field. So with Soto in the lineup as DH again for Tuesday's game against the Washington Nationals, manager Carlos Mendoza was asked if the plan for the upcoming games will be for the star to continue to DH or not. 

Mendoza shared that Soto is currently dealing with forearm tightness and underwent an MRI that came back clean, adding the hope is he will be able to play outfield again "in the next few days."

"On Friday, after the defensive work he complained about forearm tightness, after the throwing," Mendoza said. "Obviously he was DHing that day. Saturday we got rained out. Sunday, came in, pretty much felt the same. He threw, but you know, like 50-60 feet. Yesterday, came in, got treatment, and played catch.

"We did an MRI today and structurally it's fine. Ligament and all of that is fine. He's going to continue to get treatment. He's going to throw, he's going to continue to throw. And hopefully, he can play the outfield here in the next few days. Doesn't bother him to swing or anything like that, but we're dealing with that, too."

Soto last played LF on April 3 on the road against the San Francisco Giants, the game he exited after the top of the first inning with calf tightness. Overall this year, he's played seven games in left field and five as DH.

In the five games he's played since coming back, Soto has gone 3-for-15 with six walks and two strikeouts.

Mendoza also mentioned Tuesday that Luis Robert Jr. is day-to-day with lower back tightness, so having Soto available as an option defensively later in the week could help the team if Robert is still sidelined.

Carlos Mendoza says that Juan Soto is dealing with forearm tightness and the hope is for him to be able to play the outfield at some point in the next few days pic.twitter.com/IFnUzr2Hu3

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) April 28, 2026

Juan Soto throws in the outfield at Citi Field pic.twitter.com/TUEYJksawB

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) April 28, 2026

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The San Diego Padres are laying down a marker with an explosive April run – and Petco Park should be rocking again tonight, with the Chicago Cubs in town.

After last night’s 9-7 victory, San Diego has now won nine in a row at home, and my Cubs vs. Padres predictions favor the hosts over a Chicago team that had a hot streak of its own earlier this month.  

Read on for my free MLB picks ahead of this April 28 clash.

Who will win Cubs vs Padres today: Padres (+104)

With an 18-5 mark in April, the San Diego Padres look capable of pushing the L.A. Dodgers in the NL West, and I see the offense serving up enough run support for Walker Buehler tonight.

Buehler has had a bumpy start to 2026, but he’s only allowed two earned runs across his last two outings at Petco Park.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs have dropped three in a row, and righty Edward Cabrera’s last three starts have coughed up 11 runs. That spells trouble against a San Diego squad that’s 10-4 at home this year and racked up 14 hits in last night’s battle.

COVERS INTEL: Buehler’s struggles have largely come on the road (13.50 ERA this year, 6.12 ERA in 2025), but he’s posted a 3.00 ERA at Petco Park this season while giving up just five runs.

Cubs vs Padres Over/Under pick: Over 8.5 (-105)

If yesterday’s matchup was any indication, both lineups are ready to mash. The numbers back that up, too — the Padres have scored 32 runs across their last four contests, while the Cubs rank third in the majors in hits and runs. 

The Over has been a winning ticket in six of Chicago’s past seven games, and Cabrera’s last two starts have breezed past this O/U total. We’ve also seen 9+ runs in five of San Diego’s past eight outings.

It’s hard to make the case for the Under given all the firepower here, and Manny Machado enters with nine hits in his last five games. 

Cubs vs Padres odds

• Moneyline: Cubs -112 | Padres +104
• Run line: Cubs -1.5 (+147) | Padres +1.5 (-164)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5

Cubs vs Padres trend

The Over is 18-11 for the Cubs this season. Find more MLB betting trends for Cubs vs. Padres.

How to watch Cubs vs Padres and game info

Cubs vs Padres latest injuries

Cubs vs Padres weather

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Let’s start with the important part of this story: Luis Arraez is having a great season right now. Do all the people who never doubted the front office’s commitment to signing a singles hitter who hadn’t played second base in some time to play second base want to serve crow to those of us who found it to be a very silly idea? Go right ahead. I promise I won’t turn the tables if his season reverses. This post is not about his fielding —

No, but seriously, let’s take a brief detour and spotlight his fielding. +6 Outs Above Average? This stat didn’t exist in 2015 or 2016, but the first year that Joe Panik has Statcast data is 2018 (his final full season with the Giants) and he had a +8 for the entire season. Did Ron Washington retool Luis Arraez’s defense in such a way that they now have their best overall second baseman since Joe Panik (Thairo Estrada’s 5.6 fWAR 2021 season excepted)? That’s an easy list to top, of course, and there’s still a lot of 2026 remaining, but goodness gracious, what a development!

But he’s currently the only Giants regular without a home run. Even Harrison Bader got one before he hit the IL. He’s never had more than 10 in a season (2023) and the only other time he had 0 was in 2020. It’d be a little wacky and probably not a good thing if he hit 0 home runs in a season. In the history of Major League Baseball, there have been 181 second basemen to amass at least 400 plate appearances and hit 0 home runs. Just 77 of those have come in the past 100 years and only 31 in the last 50 years. The only times that has happened this century: Chris Getz (2011 Royals) hit .255/.313/.287 in 429 PA (118 G) and Mickey Morandini (2000 Phillies & Blue Jays) hit .257/.322/.313 in 457 PA (126 G). Luis Castillo managed it for the 1999 Florida Marlins, too, but his triple slash of .302/.384/.366 was much better (despite just a 102 wRC+) and included 50 stolen bases. Luis Arraez has stolen just 35 bases for his career. But let’s dig in a little more to see if it’ll happen:

Why he will

• He hit 8 home runs just last year.
• He’s got 65 games left at Oracle Park to try to yank one onto the arcade above the bricks in right field.
• He’s homered in just 11 of the 32 parks he’s played in, but he play in them a combined 14 times remaining in 2026, including 4 more in Petco Park.
• The Phillies have the highest Park Factor for left-handed hitters hitting homers (132) in the sport! Sure, the Phillies will be throwing two lefties at the Giants for this series, but if Arraez parks one against Andrew Painter, you read it here first.
• The league’s home run rate at this point last season was 1.09. It’s 1.08 today. It went up as last season progressed, ending at 1.18. More home runs will be hit and he’ll be able to get in on the action.
• Edit: As Roger of There R Giants points out below, he already has homered this year.

Why he won’t

• He’s never homered in Coors Field? 11 games, 53 plate appearances and only a pair of extra base hits for his career (a double and triple)?? Or in Chase Field (16 games, 71 PA)?! What is going on here???
• He’s never homered in Oracle Park (29 G 125 PA).
• His .057 ISO is the lowest of his career and there are reasons to argue it’ll remain down around there: he’s a year older and playing most of his games at a park that suppresses offense in all forms.

Look, chances are he’ll sock a few out this season. Dingers aren’t a part of his game, but it’s still a big part of being a big leaguer in the 21st century. He has a career slugging percentage of .412 but over the past three seasons it’s averaging .391. So, a clear decline from his age-22 to 26 seasons (.326/.379/.427) but a very valuable player if he can make the defense at second base work with what is largely a singles-only offensive skillset.

The A’s announced on Tuesday afternoon that the team was placing third baseman Max Muncy on the IL with a broken bone in his left hand. The team recalled fellow third baseman Brett Harris from Triple-A to take his roster spot.

It’s a tough break for Muncy after his solid start to the season. The former first-round pick is hitting .239/.308/.402 with two home runs and two stolen bases. The strikeouts (37) are still an issue as is the glove at third base but Muncy at least was providing some offense from the hot corner, something the A’s sorely lacked last year. It seemed like Muncy’s HBP last week was a bullet dodged but in the end the team eventually discovered the fracture and now he’ll be out for a while.

The team hasn’t addressed how long Muncy will be on the shelf for but his absence will be measured in weeks, not months. While Muncy is down the team will likely split third base duties between Darell Hernaiz and Harris. Hernaiz is hitting .222/.323/.421 with just one long ball in 15 games this year. Harris meanwhile has spent the beginning of the season with the Aviators and is hitting .274/.408/.419 with the Las Vegas. He hasn’t had much success in the big leagues up to this point and was getting some playing time at first base recently but this could be an opportunity for him back at the hot corner while Muncy is down.

The New York Yankees (19-10) face the Texas Rangers(14-15) in the second game of their series. The Yankees won Monday’s opener 4-2. The scheduled starting pitchers are Cam Schlittler for the New York Yankees, with a 1.77 ERA, and Jacob deGrom for the Texas Rangers, with a 2.13 ERA.

How to watch New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers

• Date: Tuesday, April 28

• Time: 8:05 p.m. ET / 5:05 p.m. PT

• Where: Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX

• TV Channels: Rangers Sports Network, Amazon Prime Video

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• New York Yankees: 19-10 (No. 1 in AL East)

• Texas Rangers: 14-15 (No. 2 in AL West)

Odds

• Spread: Texas Rangers +1.5

• Moneyline: Texas Rangers +105 (46.8%) / New York Yankees -125 (53.2%)

• Over/Under: 7.5

Starting pitchers

New York Yankees: Cam Schlittler (3-1, ERA: 1.77, K: 41, WHIP: 0.73)
Texas Rangers: Jacob deGrom (2-0, ERA: 2.13, K: 35, WHIP: 1.07)

Weather: 61°F at first pitch

Ballpark: Capacity: 40,000 | Roof: Retractable | Surface: Artificial Turf

We don’t know exactly when, but Anthony Volpe is nearing a return to the Yankees. Once the team ends his rehab assignment and brings him back to the big leagues, the expectation is that Volpe will resume his duties as the starting shortstop or, at the very least, play the majority of games there going forward. That means José Caballero, who has filled in for the former first-round pick as he recovered from his offseason shoulder surgery, will be pushed off shortstop.

The Yankees trusted Caballero to handle shortstop duties in Volpe’s absence, and the talented, speedy infielder managed to overcome a slow start to become everything the organization wanted him to be while the starter was gone.

Before taking the field on Monday, Caballero was slashing a solid .271/.314/.417 with a 104 wRC+, three home runs, 11 stolen bases, and 0.7 fWAR, third on the Yankees among position players. That fWAR output is higher than that of established stars such as Jazz Chisholm Jr., Trent Grisham, and Giancarlo Stanton.

It’s important to point out, however, that things weren’t always going this smoothly for Caballero in the still-young 2026 campaign. From the start of the season until April 14, he was actually hitting a disappointing .179/.220/.286 with a 39 wRC+ and a 28.8 percent strikeout rate in 59 plate appearances. Some criticized the Yankees for not having a better plan to replace Volpe.

Patience proved to be a virtue. The Yanks didn’t have much of a choice, but they stuck with Caballero and were rewarded. In 43 trips to the plate from April 15 until Sunday, the utilityman slashed .400/.442/.600 with two doubles, two home runs, five stolen bases, and a 192 wRC+. His strikeout rate over that span is at a solid 16.3 percent.

Defensively, Caballero has also been an asset. In 238.2 innings at shortstop before Monday’s game, he racked up five Defensive Runs Saved, or DRS. He is also tied for the American League lead in steals with Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez, through Sunday’s games. In other words, Caballero has been a net positive in all three facets of the game for position players: hitting, fielding, and baserunning.

Now that his playing time at shortstop will be cut due to Volpe’s presence later this week, the Yankees will have to find creative ways to keep one of their hottest players in the lineup. In the last two years alone, Caballero has played second base, third base, shortstop, and the three outfield positions. He could potentially find playing time at all those spots, but things could get crowded for him once Volpe returns.

The main takeaway for Caballero and the Yankees is that he rose to the occasion when the team needed him. He had a month to impress and managed to achieve his goal, even if the road wasn’t always smooth. Perhaps he isn’t the most willing walker, and he sure can be streaky, but Caballero has been a very solid addition to the Yankees ever since he came before last year’s deadline. The team asked for league-average offense, strong defense, and bold baserunning from the shortstop position during Volpe’s absence, and it ended up getting all three. Acquired at last year’s deadline and under team control through 2029, Caballero looks like he should be a more than fine super utilityman for years to come.

If everybody’s healthy, Caballero is probably not an everyday player. Still, manager Aaron Boone knows he has a capable Swiss Army knife ready to cover almost any position on the field capably. It may not always be pretty, but Caballero usually finds ways to contribute, and he managed to produce in all facets of the game these last few weeks.

Early-season injuries are beginning to pile up for the Mets. 

On the same day that the club placed starting pitcher Kodai Senga on the IL with lumbar spine inflammation, manager Carlos Mendoza explained that outfielderLuis Robert Jr.is day-to-day with lower back tightness that popped up during Sunday's doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies.

"That’s why he only played one game [on Sunday]," Mendoza said. "It didn’t get better, so he’s getting treatment. As of right now, he’s day-to-day, but he’s dealing with the low back tightness there."

The good news is that, as of now, it doesn't seem like Robert will need to undergo any further testing for his back. But that could change if the outlook doesn't improve soon.

"They [our training staff] think the next couple of days they can kind of just treat it, but we’ll see," Mendoza said. "If in the next 48 hours he doesn’t get better, obviously we’ll have to move forward, but as of right now they’re not considering [further testing]."

Robert, who has dealt with a handful of other injury issues throughout his career, is hitting .224 this season with two home runs and eight RBI in 24 games.

On a better note, Mendoza said that 1B/DH Jorge Polanco continues to improve as he recovers from Achilles and wrist issues.

"He actually was running out there today, up to like 80 percent. So he's improving, feeling a lot better," Mendoza said. "Today they went through a series of exercises where they were kind of testing him pretty good and he responded well."

That being said, there's still no exact timeline on when Polanco, who landed on the 10-day IL on April 18, will be back on the field.

"No, but he's now continuing to do more baseball activity," Mendoza said. "He played catch, he's going to hit in the cages now. But like the running part today was pretty encouraging."

To add on, Mendoza also said that Juan Soto had an MRI for forearm tightness that he first felt on Friday, but everything was structurally clean, so he should be able to play in the outfield in the next few days. Soto is in the lineup on Monday as DH.

Travis Bazzana will make his debut at second base for the Cleveland Guardians tonight in Cleveland.

Bazzana is, as you may have heard from Australia. He was also, you may have heard, the first overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft. He played college ball at Oregon State, and has put up a 138 wRC, 24/17 K/BB%, 25/29 in stolen base attempts, with a .252/.391/.435 slashline.

His batted ball data and plate discipline metrics are very good, as outlined by Eli Ben-Porat on Twitter:

Thomas Nestico also has an excellent breakdown of Bazzana’s underlying metrics in the minors here:

Coming into this season, Bazzana was ranked 16th in MLB by MLB Pipeline, 22nd by Baseball America, 24th by Baseball Prospectus, 50th by the Athletic, 23rd by ESPN and 54th by FanGraphs. I hope Pipeline was the winner here, because then we will be, also.

I would say that having watched a lot of Bazzana, fans need to be patient as he adjusts to the big leagues. Be prepared for him to be too passive at the plate, initially, as he gets his feet under him. Be prepared for teams to attack him outside ALL the time until he proves he can lay off balls thrown out there and serve enough of the strikes into the opposite field with authority to earn himself some inside pitches to pull. Expect his defense to still be a little shaky, but hopefully a notable step up from what Juan Brito provided. Expect him to display a Jose Ramirez-type motor and enthusiasm for playing the game, as well as a good dose of competitive fire.

Welcome to the big leagues, Travis Bazzana! Everyone, prepare your Bluey catchphrases for home run calls when he hits one (“And that’s a nice parking spot, Rita!” “He gave that one a Whack-a-doo!” “That one will keepy uppy and outta here!”).

Ahead of their series opener against the Nationals on Tuesday, the Mets placed Kodai Senga on the 15-day injured list with lumbar spine inflammation and recalled Christian Scott from Triple-A Syracuse.

Senga came out of the gate strong this season. In his first two starts, the 33-year-old pitched 11.2 innings, allowing four runs (3.09 ERA) and striking out 16. But over his next three starts, Senga allowed 16 earned runs in just 8.1 innings (17.28 ERA). His average fastball velocity also dropped noticeably over the course of the season’s first month, falling from 97.4 mph on March 31 to 95.1 mph in his most recent start against the Rockies on Sunday. Senga’s IL stint is retroactive to April 27.

Scott started for the Mets on April 23 against the Twins, marking his first appearance in the majors since July 21, 2024. Scott did not fare well against Minnesota, lasting 1.1 innings while allowing a run on five walks and a hit-by-pitch. He was optioned back to Triple-A the following day, but is already back with the big league club before making another start in Syracuse.

The Mets are effectively operating with four starting pitchers — Freddy Peralta, Nolan McLean, Clay Holmes, and now Scott — while Sean Manaea and David Peterson provide multi-inning relief out of the bullpen. It remains to be seen if one of those two left-handers will assume the role of full-time starter in the near future.

The Atlanta Braves and their league leading offense are facing the Detroit Tigers having just won twenty games before the month of May for the first time in franchise history.

The Braves lead MLB with 5.72 runs scored per game. To put that in perspective, if they continue to score this many runs per game it would be the second most in franchise history since MLB started playing 162 games. It would be more than the historic 2003 high octane offense, and just below the 2023 season where the Braves tied the record for most HRs in a season by a team.

This offense will be tested in this series because the Braves are projected to face Casey Mize (2.51 ERA), two-time reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal (2.72 ERA), and new Tiger Framber Valdez (3.41 ERA). The Braves have already faced tough pitching this season, but not a gauntlet like this.

The key for the offense will likely be to work counts and get to the bullpen as early as possible because the Tigers’ bullpen currently ranks in the bottom half of MLB in ERA, even with Kenley Jansen anchoring the back end.

With Mize being a righty, the biggest question mark was whether Michael Harris would get the start in CF so that Dominic Smith could slot in at DH again. With the day off, it would make sense that Harris may be rested up enough and that Drake Baldwin would be rested to be behind the dish. On paper, tonight’s game is the one the Braves could do the most damage offensively, and they may need it with Martin Pérez showing signs of upcoming regression to the mean, the offense may need to step up tonight.

As predicted, Harris back at CF means Smith is at DH. Another interesting note is that Riley is still below Harris and Albies in the order.

No player on the Braves has more at-bats against Mize than six. Matt Olson leads the team in at-bats and has made good of them with a HR, .500 average, and 1.625 OPS. Outside of Olson the rest of the team is pretty much a question mark.

Martin Pérez has spent a decent amount of time in the AL Central in his career so it should come as no surprise that a few of the Tigers have a decent number of at-bats against him. Four players have fourteen or more at-bats against him, and none have done more damage than Gleyber Torres. Torres has three HRs in his twenty-two at-bats against Martin Pérez which has resulted in a 1.087 OPS.

Good news for the Braves is that their bullpen is the polar opposite of the Tigers, so if Martin Pérez can suppress the Tigers’ league average offense, then the Braves have a decent chance of pulling out a game one victory.

First pitch is at 7:15 EDT.

I asked y’all in the FEED for a bumper crop of hot takes on this subject and the LL hive mind did not disappoint! Thanks to everyone who weighed in. Since there were many similar answers, I’m going to start with the top three players that were named and then I’ll break it down a bit more with my Trademarked Mariners Hot Take Ranking System:

Okay let’s break it down by the numbers here.

Your third most popular response for which Mariner won’t bounce back this season is….

A 3-way tie between Victor Robles, Luis Castillo, and….THE ENTIRE BULLPEN.

I honestly give this one a Bosio. A good and hot take, not absurd. Not many lies detected here, although throwing the entire bullpen in is a bit a cop-out answer. I will go on record once again, though, and insist that Castillo is not yet washed, even after whatever the hell happened yesterday in the frigid Twin Cities.

Moving right along.

Your second most popular response for which Mariner won’t bounce back this season is…..

Logan Gilbert

Logan looking like how that take makes me feel. This one is an Iwakuma because…..yeah, I’m worried about our boy. He has simply not looked like himself and watching his starts has felt particularly frustrating because we know he’s better than this. He is too young to be this rinsed. I firmly believe he can bounce back, but the struggles have been real and not fun.

And finally, your most popular response for which Mariner won’t bounce back this season is…..

An impossible 3-way tie between Josh Naylor, Andrés Muñoz, and Bryce Miller!

^That’s Naylz responding to his doubters. Y’all, Josh will be FINE. He is a menace. He is a baseball sicko. He has only begun to fight. Also, the disrespect to Muñoz! Audacious. That and Naylor gives this take a scorching hot Brash ranking. These are some fighting words. Our cat-loving flamethrower will be fine. You know what would help him be fine? The Mariners offense not producing so many one-run games. That would be cool. The only one here that is very justified is Bryce Miller, sadly. We just don’t know what’s going to happen if and when he returns to the rotation. The AquaSox start was fairly encouraging, but that’s High A batters. I hope he proves us all wrong.

Now to highlight a few other choice takes!

Poster YaSureYaBetcha says: “Dan. Look, he’s managed better than expected. Someday he may even get a World Series win, hopefully will the M’s. But all of pinch hitting and batting order oddness reeks of inexperience. Dan was called up too early. Send him to Tacoma to manage for a couple of years, and get all of those youthful managing mistakes out of his system. Spicy take: hire Don Mattingly off the Phillies bench as a replacement.”

Yowza! Betraying their mild Midwestern handle there with this extremely BRASH take. Listen, Dan Wilson has the room. He has the players. Unless he loses them, he’s doing a fine job as a manager. The in-game decisions, as has been documented elsewhere, do not seem to be entirely his doing. Some pinch-hitting choices have been very questionable, but it’s April and I think he/the FO need to shake out the roster as much as possible to evaluate what they truly have. On the subject of Donnie Baseball, obviously that ship has sailed as of this morning, but I also think Mattingly would not fit in here with the Mariners at all. He comes from just a different baseball world and wouldn’t understand how we do things here in the quaint Pacific Northwest. Also, every time he fucked up, we’d all accuse him of being a Yankees sleeper agent seeking revenge for 1995. Only kind-of kidding.

Poster ASURay says: “Naylor and to a slightly less extent Cal. Neither of those guys have ‘I’m going to age gracefully’ physiques and both have recently gotten paid. Neither seem like the ‘cash checks and take it easy’ types, but you never know. At least Cal should have at least a couple more years as an average+ defender in him, so that sets his floor pretty high. I’m always worried about Julio as I have never liked his hitting profile — slow starter, doesn’t always seem to have a plan at the plate, etc. — but his speed/defense at least make him useful even when he isn’t hitting. Not sure how long that will be the case, though. The things he is best right now tend to age like cottage cheese.”

Giving this one an Iwakuma as ASURay managed to doubt all three main cornerstones of this Mariners roster in highly questionable ways. ASURay hit ‘em with that Contra “spread gun” power-up. First of all, Naylor does stand the most risk of falling off the steepest age cliff, but at 28 years old, I really don’t worry about an significant drop off in skills until the fifth year of this contract. But, if we get four seasons of roughly career average performance, then the fifth year is house money. Whatever. (it’s all house money, it’s not mine).

Cal……c’mon now. He’s gonna be fine. He’s not going to catch forever, but I feel pretty confident that when he transitions to full time DH, he will still slug. He will not fade like Joe Mauer did. Joe Mauer is also notably in the Hall of Fame, so there’s that.

Julio is 25. Twenty-five! At worst, we have at least 3 more seasons of him playing an above replacement to elite center field. After that, yeah he will certainly start to decline in terms of speed and injury-prone-ness. Look at Mike Trout. Yeah, he has no business playing CF anymore, but that no-neck mf can still slug! I firmly believe that Julio will not hit the career stats peaks of Trout, but will have a longer career and have his production more evenly spread about his 20 seasons or so. Oooh yeah that’s right, I’m dropping my own fairly BRASH take here.

ChicagoMariner says: “The Game Thread commentariat has been struggling since spring training, with truly witty comments well below the Mendoza line. Some will clap back by pointing out that key commenters are currently underperforming their expected wittiness, and that we’re just waiting for a few excellent LLurkers to earn their promotion to everyday commentary, but I remain skeptical. This might just be a lost year for us.”

Oh this is HOT. This is SCALDING. This is PERSONA(LL). Yeah, this gets a CLIFF LEE rating right here. I believe the LL Commentariat is in Peak Posting Form (PPF). Why? Because we’ve weathered an influx of new posters given the team’s success, which is something that always happens here at LL following a fairly successful Mariners season or whenever hype builds from big free agent acquisitions. But, LLers have persevered. The Mods have put in more OT than we can ever hope to pay them for (check’s in the mail, babes). And the result has been bustling, vibrant, and most importantly FUN game threads. Most of the time, anyways. There will always be a few stinkers here and there. Overall, though, I see the veterans out there guiding the new posters, I see staff participating in levels not seen since the Sullivan days, and I see a lot of thoughtful and intelligent discussions being had in the non-GT comment sections, as well. So what we need here, is a new name for posting above the Mendoza line. Let’s leave poor Mario Mendoza alone finally. Do we call it the Corco Line? The Chris from Bothell Line? The old wisdom line? Who is out there putting the work every day on quality posting? Sound off in the comments.

All right, thanks for all the participation, friends! I’ll be back with another prompt in the FEED soon. Go Mariners.

Monday night at PNC park the Pirates had a 2-0 lead going into the top of the 9th vs the St. Louis Cardinals. Dennis Santana came in for the save with the 2 run lead and struggled.

Santana allowed a solo home run to Pedro Pages and allowed another solo shot to the very next batter JJ Wetherhold  to tie the game. Jose Fermin hit a tie-breaking two-run double to give the Cardinals the lead and then eventually the win.

The blown save by Santana is the eighth blown save of the season for the Bucs which is tied for third in the league with the Chicago White Sox and the Athletics. The Washington Nationals have the most with 10.

The bullpen has been an issue to start the season for the Pirates and Monday night just proved it even more. Dennis Santana was a reliable guy for the first couple of weeks of the season but we are starting to see him struggle and not be a dependable closer anymore.

The starting pitching once again continues to be one of the strengths in Pittsburgh. Monday night was a bullpen game for the Bucs, with Mason Montgomery starting and only pitching one inning. Wilber Dotel pitched four innings and threw well allowing no hits and three strikeouts. 

For as good as the starting pitching has been, the Pirates bullpen needs to be better. With how tough the NL Central is, Pittsburgh can’t afford blowing division games like that. Every team in the NL Central is above .500, so every time there is an opportunity to beat a divisional opponent, the Pirates have to take advantage. 

If the Pirates want to be a legit playoff team this year, the bullpen has to get close to the level of the starting pitching. If the bullpen cannot improve and become dominant, then it will be another disappointing season for the fans in Pittsburgh. 

The Mets have placed right-handed pitcherKodai Senga on the 15-day IL due to lumbar spine inflammation.

In a corresponding move, right-hander Christian Scott was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse.

Speaking before Tuesday's game, manager Carlos Mendoza said Senga complained about the back issue after his last start. Following an MRI, Senga was given an epidural. He will not throw for seven-to-10 days. 

The situation with Senga in the rotation had become untenable, with him being unable to pitch more than 3.1 innings in any of his last three starts.

After Sunday's game, Senga acknowledged his poor performance but was non-committal when asked if he would accept an assignment to Triple-A Syracuse.

With Senga to the IL and Scott up, it stands to reason that Scott will slide into Senga's rotation spot.

What happens when Senga returns remains complicated, though.

The Mets could theoretically move Senga to the bullpen, but that seems like a very poor fit given his routines. 

Beyond that, the Mets already have three starting pitchers working in relief roles -- David Peterson, Sean Manaea, and Carl Edwards, Jr. They also have Tobias Myers in the bullpen, and he is often relied on for multiple innings at a time.

It has been an up-and-down tenure for Senga in New York.

He burst on the scene with a 2.98 ERA in 166.1 innings in 2023, but missed all but 5.1 innings of the 2024 regular season due to injury.

In 2025, Senga got off to a hot start before suffering a hamstring injury. After returning, Senga struggled, which resulted in a demotion to Triple-A. Senga was unable to right the ship in the minors, and did not return to the majors late in the season, as had been expected. 

Senga, with more zip on his fastball than he had last season, was strong in his first two starts of 2026. But he was hit hard in his last three, ballooning his ERA to 9.00.

The 33-year-old has one more guaranteed year remaining on his deal, and is owed $15 million for the 2027 season. There is a conditional club option for 2028 that the Mets will have the ability to exercise if Senga has Tommy John surgery or a right elbow injury that keeps him on the IL for 130 or more days.