Category: MLB

The Milwaukee Brewers are set to host the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game set beginning Tuesday evening to wrap up their homestand. Milwaukee is coming off a series loss to the Pirates to begin the homestand, though they did pick up their first shutout win on Sunday, taking that one 5-0 behind a strong 12-strikeout showing from Kyle Harrison.

On the other side, Arizona is returning from their series split with the Padres in Mexico City, as they dropped Saturday’s game 6-4 before a comeback win on Sunday. They sit at 15-12 on the season, one game better than the 14-13 Brewers.

Milwaukee’s injured list (luckily) hasn’t grown much, but it also hasn’t shrunk. First baseman Andrew Vaughn and outfielder Jackson Chourio are both on the verge of rehab assignments as they recover from hand injuries, while Quinn Priester made his second rehab outing with Nashville over the weekend. He’s hoping for an early to mid-May return. Relievers Jared Koenig and Rob Zastryzny are both hoping to return in May, too, while outfielder/DH Christian Yelich is still shelved with a groin strain.

The Diamondbacks are missing a whole bunch of players, so let’s split them up into pitchers and position players. For the pitching staff, Blake Walston (midseason), Andrew Saalfrank (out for the season), Justin Martinez (second half), old friend Corbin Burnes (midseason), A.J. Puk (midseason), and Cristian Mena (TBD) are all out. Offensively, Arizona is without Pavin Smith (TBD), fellow former friend Carlos Santana (TBD), Jordan Lawlar (June), Tyler Locklear (mid-May/early June), and Gabriel Moreno, who is expected to rejoin the team for this series after missing the last couple of weeks with an oblique strain. Right-hander Zac Gallen and shortstop Geraldo Perdomo are also considered day to day with minor injuries, though Gallen is not lined up to pitch in this series.

Offensively, the Brewers haven’t homered in the last week, and they’ve struggled with inconsistency throughout the early going of the season. Brice Turang had a rough week but still led the team with four RBIs, as he’s now hitting .258/.391/.462 with four homers, 18 RBIs, 20 runs, and seven steals this season. Gary Sánchez and Jake Bauers lead the team with five homers. Garrett Mitchell has also shown flashes of his potential, and William Contreras remains a team leader. Beyond that, there isn’t much to say about the Brewer offense. As a team, Milwaukee is hitting .231/.329/.349 (.678 OPS ranks 26th), with 19 homers (tied for last), 132 runs (tied for ninth), and 36 steals (first).

Much as Perdomo did a season ago, Ildemaro Vargas has quietly turned into one of the best hitters in baseball this year with Arizona. Over 20 games, he’s hitting .367/.383/.722 with a team-high six homers, 20 RBIs, and 18 runs scored. Nolan Arenado and Ketel Marte each have four homers, while Corbin Carroll has three homers, four triples, and four steals. Jose Fernandez also has three homers and a .342 batting average thus far. Adrian Del Castillo, Aramis Garcia, James McCann, Tim Tawa, Jorge Barrosa, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Alek Thomas round out the roster (note: the team also added Jesus Valdez as the 27th man for the Mexico City Series). As a team, Arizona is hitting .255/.310/.426 (.736 OPS ranks seventh), with 27 homers (tied for 20th), 132 runs (tied for ninth), and 16 steals (tied for 21st).

Aaron Ashby and Grant Anderson still lead Milwaukee’s bullpen in appearances, with DL Hall turning in a solid 2.31 ERA over 11 outings. Abner Uribe has had some bumps this season, but he looked good over the weekend against Pittsburgh. After a hot start, Angel Zerpa has struggled in recent weeks, while Trevor Megill has had a reverse trajectory. Jake Woodford and Shane Drohan round out the current bullpen depth chart. As a staff, the Brewers have a 3.82 team ERA (eighth), including a 3.59 starter ERA (fifth) and a 4.09 bullpen ERA (15th). They’ve struck out 250 batters (ninth) over 240 1/3 innings.

The Arizona bullpen is led by Juan Morillo, who has a 1.98 ERA with 16 strikeouts over 13 2/3 innings. Closer Paul Sewald is a perfect 7-for-7 in save opportunities, but he has a 4.50 ERA and three losses. Former Brewer minor leaguer Taylor Clarke and Jonathan Loáisiga have matching 3.29 ERAs over 13 2/3 innings. Ryan Thompson, Kevin Ginkel, Andrew Hoffman, and swingman Brandon Pfaadt (five appearances, three starts) round out the bullpen. As a staff, the D-backs have a 4.53 team ERA (24th), including a 4.62 starter ERA (25th) and a 4.67 bullpen ERA (22nd). They’ve struck out 204 batters (29th) over 240 1/3 innings.

Probable Pitchers

Tuesday, April 28 @ 6:40 p.m.: RHP Chad Patrick (1-1, 2.35 ERA, 4.37 FIP) vs. RHP Merrill Kelly (1-1, 9.31 ERA, 9.02 FIP)

Patrick has had a solid season thus far, even if the underlying numbers don’t back that up. He has a 2.35 ERA, with six earned runs on 21 hits and eight walks over 23 innings, striking out just 11. After DL Hall opened for him on Wednesday night in Detroit, he went four innings, getting roughed up for four runs on six hits and a walk, striking out two. A fourth-round pick by these D-backs back in 2021, he made one start against them last season, spanning 4 1/3 innings with no runs allowed on five hits and two walks, striking out three in a no-decision.

Kelly, 37, is in his eighth MLB season. A former three-time draft pick (in 2007, 2009, and 2010), Kelly spent four seasons in Korea before breaking through with Arizona in 2019. He spent his first six full seasons with the D-backs before being traded at last year’s deadline to the Rangers. He returned to Arizona this offseason and, after starting the season on the IL, has made two starts this year. His first start against the Orioles resulted in a win as he allowed two runs over 5 1/3 innings with three strikeouts, but his last time out, he got roughed up by the White Sox, allowing eight runs and striking out five over 4 1/3 innings. For the season, he’s totaled 9 2/3 innings with 10 runs allowed on 15 hits (four homers) and seven walks with eight strikeouts. Kelly has made 10 career appearances against the Brewers, with a 5-2 record, a 2.95 ERA, and 60 strikeouts over 61 innings. His only start last season came while with Texas, when he picked up the win despite allowing three runs on 10 hits, striking out six over 5 2/3 innings.

Wednesday, April 29 @ 6:40 p.m.: RHP Brandon Sproat (0-1, 6.45 ERA, 6.02 FIP) vs. LHP Eduardo Rodríguez (2-0, 2.89 ERA, 4.98 FIP)

Sproat, who got out to a horrid start in his first two outings, has looked much better in his last three appearances. He took a no-decision on Thursday in Detroit, as he went 5 1/3 innings with three runs allowed on four hits and two walks, striking out four on 76 pitches. The former second-round pick has never faced the D-backs before.

Rodríguez, 33, is in his third season with the D-backs after signing a four-year, $80 million contract that runs through 2027. While his ERA hovered just over 5.00 in each of his first two seasons in the desert, he’s had more statistical success this season. Even though his 4.98 FIP is near that 5.00 mark, he has a 2.89 ERA with 10 runs allowed (nine earned) and 18 strikeouts over 28 innings through five starts. He’s allowed four runs in each of his last two starts (against the Orioles and White Sox), spanning 10 innings with seven strikeouts. Rodríguez has made four career starts against Milwaukee, with an 0-3 record, a 4.58 ERA, and 16 strikeouts over 19 2/3 innings. That includes a pair of starts last season — both losses — in which he totaled 8 2/3 innings with eight runs allowed (seven earned) and four strikeouts.

Thursday, April 30 @ 12:40 p.m.: RHP Brandon Woodruff (2-1, 3.77 ERA, 4.09 FIP) vs. RHP Michael Soroka (4-0, 2.60 ERA, 2.69 FIP)

Woodruff just took his first loss of the season on Friday night against Pittsburgh, as he had the tall task of going head-to-head with Paul Skenes, who has his A-plus-plus stuff in a 6-0 Pirate win. Woodruff allowed three runs in that one, giving up five hits and two walks while striking out three. For the season, he’s totaled 28 2/3 innings with a 3.77 ERA, 4.09 FIP, and 23 strikeouts. Woodruff has made eight career appearances (seven starts) against Arizona, with a 3-1 record, a 4.81 ERA, and 49 strikeouts over 39 1/3 innings. One of those wins came in his lone appearance against them last August, when he allowed five runs over 5 2/3 innings but picked up eight strikeouts in a 7-5 Brewer win.

Soroka, 28, is in his seventh MLB season and with his fifth team. After agreeing to a one-year, $7.5 million deal this offseason, he’s been a bright spot for Arizona early this season. Through five starts, he’s a perfect 4-0 with a 2.60 ERA, 2.69 FIP, and 34 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings. His last start was his lone no-decision of the year, though he still went five innings with one run allowed and six strikeouts in a game the D-backs ultimately lost late. Soroka has made two career appearances against Milwaukee, one with the Braves (2023) and one with the White Sox (2024). In those two appearances, he went 1-1 with seven runs allowed over seven innings, striking out six.

How to Watch & Listen

Tuesday, April 28: Brewers TV; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)

Wednesday, April 29: Brewers TV; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)

Thursday, April 30: Brewers TV; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)

Prediction

I think I’m going to start writing these predictions with the caveat that it really just depends on which Brewer offense shows up. I’ll bet on the Crew, though, and predict they take two of three this week.

While Tyler Glasnow, Justin Wrobleski, Emmet Sheehan, and Shohei Ohtani combine for an 11-0 record, Yoshinobu Yamamoto sits at 2-2 heading into his sixth start of the season. The trend of Yamamoto not receiving adequate run support, particularly in contrast with the regular numbers that this offense puts up, was a major theme of his efforts last season. Early on in 2026, the outlook feels eerily similar, with the Dodgers failing to score more than two runs in the majority of Yamamoto’s outings—he last pitched against the Giants at Oracle Park, taking the loss while covering seven innings of three-run ball as the offense went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

This matchup versus the surprisingly solid Miami Marlins will provide the ideal opportunity for the Dodgers to break this sequence of underwhelming performances for their ace. That’s the case since they’ll face Chris Paddack, who has lost every single one of his four starts in 2026, allowing an outrageous 31 hits in 24 innings of work.

It’s too early to simply assume that this trend when Yamamoto is on the mound, will follow the same path as last season, especially when the offense has been as productive as it has up to this point—as a whole, the Dodgers have an OPS of .828 entering this series against Miami. Now they must go out and prove it in about as favorable a matchup as you’re going to get this whole year.

Monday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Marlins
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
• Start time: 7:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

For a few days last week, the Dodgers almost couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

Because, for the first time in his three years with the team, Shohei Ohtani looked like a mere mortal at the plate.

From April 20-25, the four-time MVP had the worst six-game stretch of his Dodgers career, batting 3-for-23 with no extra-base hits and nine strikeouts. Dating back to April 12, he had gone 59 plate appearances without a home run, the longest such drought of his tenure with the club.

During his slump, he was struggling to lay off low pitches or keep from pulling the ball harmlessly to the right side of the infield.

For at least a little while, baseball’s two-way superhero seemed to be fighting some rarely-seen kryptonite, grinding through the kind of stretch to which he’s typically immune.

“You don’t hear the word ‘slump’ correlated with Shohei on the hitting side ever,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts quipped over the weekend.

“We’re all human, we all have our stretches,” added first baseman Freddie Freeman. “But (to see it from Ohtani), it’s definitely weird.”

Indeed, while it’s easy to forget when he’s mashing 450-foot home runs, or blowing 100 mph fastballs past hitters from the mound, or accomplishing statistical feats once thought impossible in baseball’s modern era, even Ohtani has his physical limitations. 

And this year, in his return to full-time pitching following a second career Tommy John surgery, he’s getting a renewed –– and potentially telling –– early-season test.

Last week, both Roberts and several teammates noted an inevitable shift in the 31-year-old superstar so far this season. He’s had to put more focus on pitching. He’s had to factor in more between-starts recovery. He’s had to manage his overwhelming workload more delicately than ever before.

“You always feel like it’s gonna be sustainable with him, because he’s a great player, he knows how to prepare,” veteran infielder Miguel Rojas said. “But these kind of moments make you realize that baseball is hard. Especially when he does it the way that he’s doing it.”

“When he’s pitching in the normal rotation every week,” Freeman echoed, “it’s a whole different dynamic.”

Different, of course, does not necessarily equate to worse.

On Saturday, Freeman predicted that Ohtani’s recent skid “just means the hot streak (that will follow it) is going to be something we’ve never seen before.” 

Right on cue, the slugger collected three hits a day later, belting a 109 mph double and a 110 mph opposite-field home run on Sunday after making a tweak to his batting stance that got him better aligned with his swing.

“Starting yesterday, it started feeling a little better,” Ohtani said in Japanese during a postgame television interview. “I think my stance is the most important thing. Everything starts from there, and if I fix that, I think I can take better at-bats.”

Still, even Ohtani seemed to caution about immediately bouncing back to his typical production levels.

While he’s been known as a somewhat slow opening-month performer (at least relative to his atmospheric norms), his current .262 batting average and .876 OPS would still be the second-worst March/April marks of his nine-year MLB career.

“I just have to be patient a little longer,” he said, “and continue to make improvements.”

It’s a battle that figures to rage on for the duration of this year.

Exactly how much Ohtani himself feels like his pitching is complicating his hitting process remains an unknown (he declined to speak to any other reporters after Sunday’s game).

But over the weekend, Roberts identified that dynamic as a “common sense” factor in Ohtani’s sluggish start.

“There’s gotta be some cuts into some of the bandwidth, the production on the offensive side,” Roberts said Saturday. “What it translates to (regarding) how he’s been swinging the bat the last week, how much of that is the pitching? I don’t have an answer for that. But that’s to be understood, that there’s some kind of cut into production given how much he’s pitching.”

So far, that plan has paid dividends in each of his turns through the rotation. Entering his Tuesday night outing against the Marlins, Ohtani has a 0.38 ERA in four starts, having racked up 25 strikeouts in 24 total innings.

“He is a horse on that mound right now,” Freeman said.

The challenge moving forward will be maintaining such pitching dominance while rediscovering more consistent hitting form.

It’s not a task Freeman envies, noting how even he experiences “some days you walk into that box and you’re just like, ‘Whoa, it feels like I haven’t been in this thing in a while.’” 

And that’s without the added burden of making 100-pitch outings on a regular basis.

“When you throw 100 pitches and you throw with that kind of effort,” Roberts said of Ohtani,
“there needs to be more recovery (time behind the scenes).”

None of this means Ohtani is lowering his personal goals. During his scuffle last week, Roberts noticed his frustration through his more stoic facial expressions.

“He has high expectations for himself and his performance,” Roberts said. “So (this is) certainly not up to his standard.”

And while Sunday might’ve marked the start to a widely-expected turnaround, simply one week of mortality was a reminder of the hurdles he’ll face this year.

“He’s gotta navigate a whole ‘nother thing, where the last two years all he had to do was hit,” Freeman said. “Baseball is hard, very hard. Even the greatest players, they can it make it look easy a lot of the time. But there’s a lot of time that it’s not.”

The Jays have placed Max Scherzer on the IL with forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation, backdated to his last start.

Chase Lee has been called up and will be available tonight. Lee has been, well, interesting for the Bisons. A 1.32 ERA in 9 appearances, 13.2 innings (maybe we can use him for more than an inning at a go?), 11 hits, 2 earned (3 more unearned), 9 walks and 12 strikeouts. 9 walks in 13.2 innings is a lot.

Scherzer, you know, hasn’t been good. They aren’t saying if the arm and ankle were bothering him before last start, or if it has been going on all season, or if it is new. The way he has been pitching, they couldn’t keep sending him out there every five days. At 41, Max would have to be 100% to be effective and even then I have my doubts, but let’s see what happens when he is healthy.

This will mean that Eric Lauer will likely make another start. After that José Berríos could be back.

Welcome to the team Lee. I am very interested in seeing you pitch.

Former Jay first baseman Willie Upshaw turns 69 today.

Willie Upshaw was a rarity, a successful Rule 5 draft pick. We took him from the Yankees in 1978, who had drafted him in the 5th round in 1975. He quickly moved up through the minor leagues, but the Yankees had Chris Chambliss, who left after 1979 for the Braves. The Yankees cycled through first basemen until Don Mattingly took over in 1983.

Willie spent nine seasons with the Jays, establishing himself in 1983 when he hit .306/.373/.515 with 27 home runs and 104 RBI—his standout year. The following season saw his power slip to 19 home runs and a .278/.345/.464 line, marking the start of a decline in his performance. After 1987, Willie left the Jays and signed as a free agent with Cleveland.

He finished his career with 123 home runs, 528 RBI, and a .262/.335/.419 line. After his playing days, Willie managed the Bridgeport Bluefish, an independent league team, and he was the Giants’ first-base coach for a couple of seasons.

I often thought Upshaw was the start of a good run for the Jays at the position. Upshaw offered steady defence and reliable hitting. After him, Fred McGriff brought strong power, John Olerud contributed with remarkable on-base ability, and Carlos Delgado delivered impressive slugging. There was a little gap, and then came Edwin Encarnacion (at least part-time at first), and now Vladimir Guerrero.

Turning to other Jays birthdays today, Frank Catalanotto turns 52.

Frank was a 10th-round draft pick for the Tigers. He played three seasons with the Tigers before being included in a major trade to the Texas Rangers. In the trade, Frank moved to the Rangers alongside Alan Webb, Francisco Cordero, Bill Haselman, Gabe Kapler, and Justin Thompson, whileJuan Gonzalez, Danny Patterson, and Gregg Zaun were sent to the Tigers. After three seasons with the Rangers, Frank signed with the Jays as a free agent.

For us, he platooned with Reed Johnson in the outfield, forming a great pairing. From 2004 to 2007 with the Jays, Frank hit .299/.361/.445 with 29 home runs and 200 RBI, mainly facing right-handed pitchers. Both he and Johnson became fan favourites. After the 2007 season, Frank signed with the Rangers for 2008, then later played for the Brewers and the Mets. He also represented Italy in the World Baseball Classic.

• Chris Carpenter (51) pitched six seasons for the Blue Jays, going 49-50 with a 4.83 ERA in 152 games (135 starts) before blowing out his shoulder. The Jays then wanted to take him off the 40-man roster. Carpenter found a new path with the Cardinals, who were willing to pay him as a major leaguer during his rehab. This move paid off for St. Louis: he won the Cy Young in 2005 and finished 2nd and 3rd in subsequent voting. Carpenter’s last major league appearance was in 2012, when he made three regular-season starts and pitched twice in the playoffs, taking losses in both games. He closed his career with a 144-94 record and a 3.76 ERA. Carpenter later gave a lovely eulogy for Roy Halladay at his funeral.
• Bob MacDonald (61) was a lefty reliever for the Jays in 1991 and 1992. In 1991, he pitched 45 games with a 2.85 ERA. He earned a World Series ring in 1992, then signed with the Astros and later played for the Mariners, White Sox, Yankees, and Mets. Over 197 major league games, he posted a 4.34 ERA.
• Pat Lennon (58) was a first-round draft pick by the Mariners in 1986. He played for our Triple-A team in 1998 and 1999 and spent parts of six major league seasons, though he totalled only 189 at-bats. I wanted to see Pat get a real chance in the majors. In the minors, he hit .291/.374/.480 with 187 home runs, including a standout season in Calgary, where he posted .329/.400/.531 for the Cannons while I had season tickets. Unfortunately, with Ken Griffey and Jay Buhner occupying the Mariners’ outfield, Pat’s opportunities were limited. Timing kept him from a bigger role.

Well that sure was a weekend.

Back-to-back wins. Scoring 17 in 1 game. A Caleb Durbin home run. The coaching shuffle. Alex Cora out, Chad Tracy in.

And now the Red Sox are off to Toronto to play the Blue Jays in a Battle of AL East Disappointments.

The Jays realized their rotation wasn’t quite up to snuff in the World Series and added the best starter available, Dylan Cease, as a free agent. Through five starts all he’s done is is impress. He has two 12 strikeouts games already (44 total Ks), 14 walks, 19 hits, and has given up zero home runs in 25.2 innings. The bright side is he’s walking 12.6% of batters. But he’s striking out almost 40% of batters so, good luck out there. It’s almost a waste to send Ranger Suárez out to the mound against him. The Sox free agent pitching acquisition had a rough outing against the Yankees in a series that everyone hopes is the bottoming out point of the season. Suárez was excellent against Detroit, so hopefully he bounces right back.

Trea Yesavage burst onto the scene just before the playoffs started with a September 15th MLB debut. He then turned a lot of heads on a national scale. And then, as pitchers do, he got hurt. As the Jays have slumped, his rehab outings left something to be desired. In one start at Single A and one at Triple A he allowed 12 runs (10 earned) in 12 innings for an ERA of 9.00. He allowed 3 home runs and walked 7. But also struck out 16. So maybe he’s tuned up. But hopefully he needs a little time to get used to MLB again. Payton Tolle aka Mass Pike, is back for his second start of the year. In what may have been the deciding game for Alex Cora’s stay with the Red Sox, Tolle pitched brilliantly. Over 6.0 he struck out 11 Yankees. Let’s see what he can do as a next step.

The finale is a strange matchup: Max Scherzer and Brayan Bello are both entering this game with ERAs of at least 9.00. Scherzer has tossed 18.2 innings while allowing 20 runs. Bello 22 innings and 22 runs. Max has allowed 7 homers to Bello’s 8. Is this going to be a slugfest or a pitchers’ duel? Neither has gotten to face the under-performing lineups of the teams they are on. Entering the series the Sox and Jays are 4th and 5th, respectively, in runs scored in the AL East with 117 and 110. The Jays have allowed 133 runs to Boston’s 128 (or 93, 95, sometimes 1).

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is hitting .340/.426/.460 with 2 home runs and 2 steals.

New third baseman Kazuma Okamoto has 5 homers and is slashing .229/.315/.406.

Postseason hero Ernie Clement is at .324/.330/.435 with no homers.

George Springer is on the IL as is catcher Alejandro Kirk.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Monday, April 27: Ranger Suárez (4.00 ERA / 4.08 FIP) vs. Dylan Cease (2.10 ERA / 1.47 FIP)

Tuesday, April 28: Payton Tolle (1.50 ERA / 2.15 FIP) vs. Trey Yesavage (— ERA / — FIP)

Wednesday, April 29: Brayan Bello (9.00 ERA / 8.29 FIP) vs. Max Scherzer (9.64 ERA / 8.40 FIP)

Well, looks like Mad Max won’t be pitching after all. Right now it’s listed as TBD but Bluebird Banter has a few thoughts on who might pitch.

When/Where to Watch

Monday, April 27: 7:07 PM on NESN

Saturday, April 25: 7:07 PM ET on NESN

Sunday, April 26: 3:07 PM ET on NESN

The month of April is nearing a close, and thanks to the rotating outfield situation at the big league level with the Cincinnati Reds we’ve been privy all month to the offensive force coming out of the AAA Louisville lineup. Rece Hinds got the call to take over RF from Noelvi Marte when the former was mashing so incredibly that the latter’s lack of production simply could not demand more patience.

All Marte has done since his demotion is hit .452/.500/.714 in 46 PA. He might get Hinds’ job back at some point soon, but he already got skipped over for JJ Bleday, who homered as a Red yesterday after hitting an absurd .341/.462/.659 for Louisville in 104 PA before his promotion.

In other words, balls are flying for the Louisville Bats this year, and we’ve seen a lot of the successes their pushed into the spotlight with the Reds. What we’ve not highlighted much here this year, though, is the best of the best offensively from the other levels of the system. So, we’re going to do a bit of that Farmers Only style today!

Chattanooga Lookouts (AA Southern League)

The Lookouts are 16-5 on the season thanks to an offense averaging a rock solid 5.9 runs per game and a league-best pitching staff’s 4.04 ERA. We’ll get to the pitchers some other time, though, as it’s the hitters we’re going to highlight here.

It’s a lineup featuring a trio of former 1st round picks as well as two other ranked prospects, so it should be this productive. Leading the charge, though, is Austin Hendrick, who’s been written off by most everyone due to his struggles with strikeouts. The former 1st rounder was old for being a high school draftee, though, and maybe it’s just taking him a bit more time to find his legs professionally as he’s old (25) for the AA level. Still, he’s hit .307/.373/.480 with 3 dingers so far this season, leading the team so far in hits, homers (tied), ribbies, slugging, and OPS.

Heating up next to him is Cam Collier, who owns a .304/.393/.565 line over the last 7 days to boost his overall season numbers to .263/.344/.475 (.819 OPS). He, too, has a trio of homers and the power looks back after last year’s wrist-induced outage.

Jay Allen II still has no pop, but owns a .355 OBP so far this season with Chattanooga. Carlos Jorge, meanwhile, missed about two weeks of action on the IL but a) is back and b) is hitting .316/.409/.368 in a small 44 PA sample so far.

Dayton Dragons (High-A Midwest League)

We simply cannot talk about the Dayton Dragons withough highlighting their hard-hitting catcher who owns an excellent eye at the plate. That’s right, folks, it’s Ryan McCrystal!

As Alfredo Duno is off to merely an OK start (no pop yet but a 17/20 BB/K and .375 OBP), it’s been his peer at the position, McCrystal, who’s been red hot at the plate. He owns an .888 OPS through 69 PA to lead the team, the former 9th rounder out of East Carolina getting time at both 1B and DH as well as behind the plate.

As for breakout prospects go, it could well be happening (again) for Carlos Sanchez. Ranked #26 in the system by MLB Pipeline, he hit .308/429/.449 (.878) for Class-A Daytona last year in 264 PA before being bumped up to Dayton, and he struggled relatively (.244/.320/.373 in 201 PA) after the promotion. He was just 20 then, is 21 now, and has blasted out of the gate hitting .329/.420/.429 through 81 PA while playing every game at shortstop so far. I don’t care what lens you look at that through, that’s a quality prospect in the making.

Daytona Tortugas (Class-A Florida State League)

The Florida State League (and Daytona’s home park, in particular) has a long-standing reputation as a pitcher’s paradise. So, naturally they’ve got a guy down there who’s hitting the ball with more authority (and results) than anyone in the minors right now.

That’s former 6th round pick Jacob Friend, of course!

Friend, a 23 year old Boston native who played ball at Davidson College, has exploded out of the gate hitting .333/.446/.767 witha 5 homers, 7 doubles, and a pair of triples through just 74 PA. He has just 20 hits all season, and 14 of them have gone for extra-bases. He’s also primarily a catcher, which means that right now Alfredo Duno is being lapped in the lower minors by not one, but two future potential journeymen at the position. Huzzah!

The Tugas are just 6-15 on the season and there aren’t a ton more highlights, but it’s worth a shoutout to Bernard Moon, at least. Redan High School in Stone Mountain, GA has had some pretty notable names come through it, the likes of Wally Joyner, Taj Bradley, Domonic Brown, and a guy by the name of Brandon Phillips who just went into the Reds Hall of Fame this weekend. It also produced Moon, a 2B/OF who has a .794 OPS so far this year that ranks 2nd to Friend in just about every category so far this season.

Because this is a hype piece, we are not going to talk about how badly Tyson Lewis has struggled with Daytona so far. Nope, we just are not going to do it.

The New York Yankees (18-10) open a three-game series with the Texas Rangers (14-14). The New Yankees had an eight-game winning streak end on Sunday with a 7-4 loss to the Houston Astros. The Ranges lost 2-1 to the A’s on Sunday. Starting pitchers are Max Fried for New York, with a 2.40 ERA, and Jack Leiter for Texas, with a 4.97 ERA.

How to watch New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers

• Date: Monday, April 27

• Time: 8:05 p.m. ET / 5:05 p.m. PT

• Where: Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX

• TV Channels: Rangers Sports Network, YES

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

Odds

• Spread: Texas Rangers +1.5

• Moneyline: Texas Rangers +145 (38.8%) / New York Yankees -180 (61.2%)

• Over/Under: 8.0

Starting pitchers

New York Yankees: Max Fried (3-1, ERA: 2.40, K: 32, WHIP: 0.77)
Texas Rangers: Jack Leiter (1-1, ERA: 4.97, K: 29, WHIP: 1.46)

Weather: 64°F at first pitch

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

After sweeping the Cardinals in St. Louis, the Mariners continue their annual early-season cursèd march through the Midwest with a stopoff in Minnesota, the famous not-roof-havers. The Twins are fresh off their own sweeping, at the hands of former Mariner Ben Williamson and the Tampa Bay Rays. They’ve lost five straight and nine of their last ten, as they’re starting to really look like the team PECOTA predicted for under 80 wins.

The Twins are in rebuild mode, so have already brought up (and sent down) a couple of their MLB-ready pitching prospects, one of whom will make the start on Monday against the Mariners: lefty Connor Prielipp, meaning the Mariners will have to pull out their righty-heavy lineup again in the series opener. Offensively, Minnesota brought up contact-monster infielder Luke Keaschall for a couple months last season and he continues on with the team this season, but has dropped off significantly after a torrid start to his MLB career. The Twins’ other top offensive prospects, Walker Jenkins and Kaelen Culpepper, remain at Triple-A for now; Jenkins is working back from a hamstring injury, and Culpepper is still gaining experience at the level. The top prospects are close but still a ways away for Minnesota, so the Mariners will see the group that remained after the Twins stripped down the team last trade deadline (especially bullpen-wise), accented by their modest off-season upgrades rather than a full youth movement.

Byron Buxton is the Twins’ leadoff man and the spiritual heart of this team, although he’s slowing down as the perpetually-injured outfielder moves through his early 30s. He’s followed by Trevor Larnach, whose performance has annoyed Twins fans enough that they were trying to trade him to Seattle this off-season. Josh Bell, one of the aforementioned modest off-season upgrades, usually hits third, and those who have long clamored for Josh Bell, Seattle Mariner, will be pleased to know that he continues to be Josh Bell. We stan a consistent king. 

Things get spongy after that, as manager Derek Shelton has tried a few different lineup combinations. Usually one of the Twins’ catchers bats cleanup, usually Ryan Jeffers but switch-hitting Victor Caratini, who can also play first base, can slot in around there too. Then it’s a spin-the-wheel to see what the bottom half of the lineup spits out in what order. Third baseman Royce Lewis will be in there somewhere, along with shortstop Brooks Lee, off to a solid start this year; the outfield is a similar mix of bench players all steadfastly ignoring the “starting jobs this way” sign.

Probable Pitchers 

Updated Stuff+ Explainer 

• Stuff+ scores for Mariners starters

The Twins promoted Connor Prielipp last week to make his major league debut against the Mets. He completed four innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out six. Entering the season, he was ranked as the Twins top pitching prospect and their third overall prospect. A pair of serious elbow injuries — one in college in 2021 and one in the minors in ‘23 — have curtailed his development somewhat, but his raw stuff has continued to look dominant. His best pitch is a superb slider that features tight, downward movement and higher than average velocity. His fastball is fine — it’s the pitch he can command the best at the moment — and his changeup has flashed some promise, though he has trouble with his feel for that offspeed pitch.

Joe Ryan survived the Twins sell off last summer, and with Pablo López sidelined with Tommy John surgery this year, he has become the de facto ace of the pitching staff. His four-seam fastball is one of the best in baseball. He’s able to generate an extremely flat approach angle with the pitch thanks to a good amount of ride and a really low arm angle. His ongoing issue has been trying to figure out the right mix of secondary pitches to pair with his heater. He’s now throwing three different breaking balls and a splitter to keep batters off his fastball.

The Twins acquired Taj Bradley from the Rays last summer in a deal that has turned out to be somewhat of a coup. Back in 2023, Bradley was one of the most highly regarded pitching prospects in baseball, but he struggled to harness his impressive raw stuff across his first three seasons in the big leagues. Tampa Bay cut bait on him, and he continued to struggle in Minnesota after the trade, but he’s managed to put everything together this season. The biggest difference for him has been small adjustments to his cutter and splitter to differentiate those pitches from his fastball. His cutter is breaking glove side a little more and his splitter is diving out of the zone more often. With an extremely high arm slot and an arsenal that heavily relies on vertical movement, those small changes have had a huge impact on his results on the mound.

The Big Picture:

We’re still not looking at standings, but if we were, we would point out that the Mariners have firmly stepped on the Angels in climbing out of the cellar of the division while leaving Houston buried in the bottom. The A’s and Rangers just spent a series slugging it out against each other, pushing the Athletics to the top of the division for now, but the Mariners lurk just behind those two teams. The A’s welcome in Kansas City this week, while Texas has to cope with the Yankees team that just spent time beating up on the Astros. The Astros, meanwhile, travel to Baltimore, and the Angels make a similar journey to the Mariners, heading north to take on the Chicago White Sox.

Questions persisted all offseason as to what this 2026 St. Louis Cardinals starting rotation was going to look like. Matthew Liberatore has not quite found his stride early in the season. Dustin May, after 2 shaky starts to begin the year, has found a footing in the rotation over his last 3 appearances. Andre Pallante has been mostly good in his first 5 turns this year, and Kyle Leahy is early in his transition from the bullpen back to a starter’s workload.

On Sunday, we saw Michael McGreevy give the Cardinals another quality start, going 6 IP, the only run he allowed was on a solo shot to Cal Raleigh (it happens), and allowed scant traffic all game long. It was Mcgreevy’s 3rd time posting a QS in 6 games started this season. If McGreevy can maintain a QS% of 50% or higher, that’s going to go a long way towards the Cardinals navigating the 162-game season and a really refreshing source of “Bulk” innings, not a 30-something veteran starter on the back end of their career.

In 31.3 IP now this season, McGreevy has a 3.16 ERA, and his WHIP is down to 0.86, which is good for 6th in the NL. McGreevy has been the quintessential “pitch maker” for the Cardinals this season, living around 91-92 MPH on the FB so far this year. McGreevy has effectively mixed his pitches, featuring at least 5 pitches with more than 10% usage. His Hard-Hit% is only 36.5%, and his average exit velocity against is 87.9, and those are both above-average marks. The other thing that McGreevy is doing superbly is avoiding the free passes. His BB% is under 5% this year, and in the modern game, if you’re not a pitcher who can punch his way out of trouble, then you better not GET yourself into trouble often.

Michael’s Changeup has been a particularly effective pitch for him this season. Opponents are hitting .077 against the cambio and with a .114 wOBA and 25.6 Whiff%. So far in 2026, it rates out as a +4 in Run Value, which puts him in the 98th percentile of all offspeed pitches in baseball. McGreevy’s sinker and Cutter are also positive value pitches for him thus far this year, as well as using the breaking ball as a “strike stealer” early in counts, and can put hitters away with soft contact in play.

We spoke to Eno Sarris on last week’s episode of the podcast, and our wonderful Gabe Simonds asked Eno about Stuff+ and the ability to have outliers, and it is possible for certain players to outperform what they show, and Michael McGreevy would certainly seem to be one of those pitchers who will outpitch a lot of expected predictor type stats.

For the more experienced fans in Cardinal Nation, McGreevy is probably more of a favorite, as he does the things that Cardinals starters of a previous generation did well. He works quickly, throws strikes, gets groundballs, and gives his team a chance to win just about every start he makes. He won’t wow stuff metrics evaluators, but he’ll do enough to be your dad/grandpa’s favorite pitcher on the team.

-Thanks for reading

Every year there’s a prospect who doesn’t make our top 40 list and makes that omission look foolish almost immediately. This year it’s Nolan Perry, who did make Matt’s pref list but whom I have to admit to whiffing on entirely. Perry got $200k in the 12th round back in 2022 out of Carlsbad, New Mexico. He looked promising in the 2023 complex league and in his full season debut in 2024, striking out about 28% of batters he faced but walking too many. As Matt noted in his write-up, he had a tendency to lose his delivery and have meltdown innings, but tended to overpower A ball hitters when things were working. Then he went down with elbow troubles in mid-August which ultimately lead to a Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss 2025 entirely.

Command is usually the last thing to come back after TJ, but having had a full 19 months to recover before returning to game action, Perry appears to have not just gotten back to where he was but taken a step forward. So far in 2026 he’s both landing more pitches in the zone overall (45% vs 41%), but when he works out of the zone placing pitches more deliberately, drawing chases and some called strikes on fastballs up and sliders and curves low. It’s still below average command, probably, but he’s improved the quality and consistency of his location enough to increase the odds that he ultimately sticks as a starter.

Perry’s stuff has also improved. In 2024 he sat 90-93 and occasionally approached 95 with his fastball. Now he’s sitting 93-95 and occasionally cresting 96. He’s further defined the shape of the heater, which in 2024 StatCast classified as a sinker about a third of the time (though the movement profile was similar enough to his four seamer that I think he was just sometimes getting on the side of the latter pitch and sailing it a little). The pitch has above average vertical carry and plus arm side run, which should allow it to play as solid average.

Two distinct breaking balls make up most of the rest of Perry’s pitches. His slider, used just under 30% of the time, varies from 82-87mph. It looks like an average pitch, with pretty typical movement although it could use a little more depth. That’s too much for A ball hitters, who’ve missed a little more than half the time when they swing. He’s located it pretty well, missing down and away when he does miss and mostly avoiding hanging anything out over the heart of the plate. The curve, used 20% of the time, comes in just under 80mph and gets big two-plane break. It’s big enough that batters tend to read it out of his hand and have swung under 30% of the time he throws it (compared to 43% for the slider and 57% for the fastball). They can’t hit it when they do, with 9 whiffs on 16 tries, but he’ll want to get better at dropping it into the bottom third of the zone for strikes to really maximize its effectiveness.

His change-up is rarely used, and only to lefties. It comes in at 86mph with good vertical drop compared to the fastball, and at least as a rare ambush weapon it’s been too much for A ball hitters, who’ve whiffed on three of four swings so far. We’ll have to see whether it remains deceptive against better hitters with a bit more of a book on Perry’s arsenal, but to my eye it has considerably more bite than in 2024 and now flashes some potential.

It’s a pretty smooth looking delivery, with a high leg kick and an average stride, and he looks like he repeats it pretty well. Perry’s listed at 6’2” and 195lbs and still looks fairly lanky, although at 22 there isn’t likely to be a ton more development physically. The steps he’s taken with his command point to continued development as a starter for the forseeable future. He has the repertoire depth to make that work, assuming continued progress on the change-up, with no monster plus pitch but at least three that look like they could be above average consistently with development.

A ball is clearly beneath Perry’s level. His 47% strikeout rate and 2.07 xFIP are both second among pitchers at the level with at least a dozen innings. At 22, even with missed development time, he’s also old for the level. I would expect a move up to Vancouver sometime soon, possibly once the weather improves in the pacific northwest. From there, if he continues to outclass hitters in the Northwest league, a cameo at New Hampshire probably isn’t out of the question. That’s the track that last year’s Dunedin breakout arm, Gage Stanifer, took, although Stanifer had a base of 60 innings in 2024 to build off of and Perry might be under a tighter usage limit.

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Ernie Clement has been raking for the battered Toronto Blue Jays, and with a lefty on the mound for the Boston Red Sox, I expect that trend to continue. 

Find out more in my Red Sox vs. Blue Jays predictions and MLB picks for this April 27 matchup.

Red Sox vs Blue Jays predictions

Red Sox vs Blue Jays best bet: Ernie Clement Over 1.5 total bases (+110)

Toronto Blue Jays batter Ernie Clement is second in the AL in hits with 36, and is on a 10-game hitting streak — with knocks in 14 of his last 15 games. 

Over that stretch, he’s hitting .359 with 10 extra-base hits. He’s also averaging 2.2 bases per game during this heater. 

He's set to face Boston Red Sox southpaw Ranger Suarez, and the infielder has found great success against lefties over the last two seasons.

Clement has a .320 average this year against them after posting a .900 OPS vs. LHP in 2025. 

COVERS INTEL: Ranger Suarez has allowed four or more runs in three of his five starts this season, while posting a 4.99 xERA that ranks in the 28th percentile.

Red Sox vs Blue Jays same-game parlay (SGP)

Suarez is more of a contact pitcher than a strikeout guy, which is great for the disciplined Jays who like to see balls in the zone. 

Additionally, the Blue Jays have the lowest strikeout rate in baseball, and Suarez ranks in the 15th percentile in that category with just an 18% whiff rate, which ranks in MLB’s 8th percentile.

I’ll also take the Jays to go Over their team total at 3.5 runs tonight. Toronto has exceeded this run total in five of its last six games, while the Red Sox have allowed an average of 4.57 runs per game against them this season. 

Red Sox vs Blue Jays SGP

• Ernie Clement Over 1.5 total bases
• Ranger Suarez Under 3.5 strikeouts
• Blue Jays team total Over 3.5

Red Sox vs Blue Jays home run pick: Daulton Varsho (+790)

I’ll make this a half-unit wager.

The lefty-on-lefty matchup has to be the reason the price is so juicy for Daulton Varsho at +790, however, the outfielder has fared better at the plate against southpaws this season, posting an .815 OPS against them. 

The matchup is great for him, too, as the lefty Suarez throws his sinker at a 45% rate against left-handed hitters. Varsho owns a .412 average and a .647 slug rate against the sinker with a home run, which was hit off a lefty at that. 

Red Sox vs Blue Jays odds

• Moneyline: Boston +1.5 (-180) | Toronto -1.5 (+155)
• Run line: Boston +115 | Toronto -135
• Over/Under: Over 7 (-120) | Under 7 (+100)

Red Sox vs Blue Jays trend

Ernie Clement is currently riding a 10-game hit streak. Find more MLB betting trends for Red Sox vs. Blue Jays.

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