Category: MLB

The Tampa Bay Rays will be without right-handed pitcher Ryan Pepiot for the entire season.

The 28-year old opened the season on the Injured List after dealing with an issue that was later described as ‘right-hip inflammation.’ There was hope that with some rest that the issue would resolve itself. However, during a throwing session at Tropicana Field a few weeks ago, Kevin Cash said that Pepiot had a “bad day.”

Now, the official word is that Pepiot will have to undergo hip surgery in order to resolve the issue and will be out for the remainder of the 2026 season.

Pepiot originally came to the Rays as part of the return for Tyler Glasnow following the 2023 season. Pepiot would joint the Rays rotation for the 2024 campaign and over the past two years, he has proven himself as a dependable starting pitcher. Since joining the Rays, Pepiot has a 3.75 ERA | 4.18 FIP with a 25.4 K% & 8.9 BB% over 297.2 IP.

Texas Rangers lineup for May 1, 2026 against the Detroit Tigers: starting pitchers are MacKenzie Gore for the Rangers and Jack Flaherty for the Tigers.

Plays the first of three in Detroit. Josh Smith is sitting again, Ezequiel Duran is starting again.

The lineup:

Nimmo — RF

Carter — CF

Seager — SS

Jung — 3B

Pederson — DH

Burger — 1B

Osuna — LF

Duran — 2B

Jansen — C

5:40 p.m. Central start time. The game is a pick ‘em.

1901
In the dead ball era, homers were sparse. In fact, the White Sox went their first four official American League games without one. But on this day, the offense exploded by banging out 16 hits to bury Detroit, 19-9. The onslaught marked the first time in the AL that the White Sox hit two home runs in one game. Both Billy Hoy and Herm McFarland hit their first round-trippers of the season; Hoy’s was a three-run shot and McFarland’s in the second inning a grand slam — the first in White Sox and American League history.

On the Tigers side, things were ugly. Detroit made 10 errors in the game; starting pitcher Joe Yeager allowed 12 runs, but just five were earned over his three innings.

1924
In a game at Cleveland, White Sox outfielder Bill Barrett banged out four hits and stole home twice in a 13-7 win. Barrett went 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBIs for the afternoon. His steals of home came in the first and ninth innings.

1936
The White Sox claimed Dixie Walker off waivers from the Yankees. Alas, this was a big one who eventually got away, as the Sox traded Walker to the Tigers after only one season. In 1937 with the Sox, Walker drove in 95 runs while hitting .302. Walker later achieved stardom in Brooklyn, winning a batting title and playing in four All-Star games. 

1951
Minnie Miñoso (acquired on April 30) made his White Sox debut. The Cuban Comet became the first Black player in team history. In his first at-bat, he hit a home run off of Vic Raschi into the center field bullpen at Comiskey Park. The drive went an estimated 425 feet and drove in a pair of runs. Later in the same game, won by the Yankees, 8-3, Mickey Mantle hit the first of his 536 career home runs. 

1954
White Sox pitcher Virgil Trucks tossed a one-hitter in beating the Red Sox, 3-0. The only hit he allowed came in the sixth inning, a single by future White Sox player Billy Goodman. Trucks struck out eight Boston batters in the game.

This was the first of his pair of one-hitters in 1954; he’d end the year at 19-12 with a 2.79 ERA, having made the All-Star team and saving the win for the American League.  

1959
Early Wynn had one of the greatest days ever by a pitcher, when he did it all in a 1-0 White Sox win over Boston. Wynn tossed a one-hit complete game, striking out 14. In addition, he slammed a home run in the last of the eighth inning to account for the game’s only run. Wynn’s drive bounced off the glove of Boston’s Bill Renna into the first row of seats at Comiskey Park.

The only hit Wynn allowed came to Pete Runnels in the first inning, a single to center field at Comiskey Park. Ironically, seconds before the hit Wynn moved Luis Aparicio over a few steps to his right, and he wasn’t able to reach Runnels’ grounder.Wynn’s control wasn’t the best, as he walked seven batters, but he was always able to get out of trouble.

Also on this day, the White Sox traded for Cincinnati Reds outfielder Del Ennis. Ennis, a three-time All-Star, was simply horrible for the White Sox, compiling -0.8 WAR over 26 games and getting released on June 20. At 34, his major league career was over.

1960
Al Smith connected on a Jim Bunning pitch and set off owner Bill Veeck’s new exploding scoreboard for the first time. The blast came in the third inning, with Jim Landis on base. The White Sox would win the game, 6-3, and then sweep the Tigers by taking the nightcap, 5-2.

The scoreboard was 130 feet wide and cost $300,000. There was a firing platform in back that went into action when a White Sox player hit a home run. There were noises of varying tones and intensities, including the sounds of horses running, thunder and the collision of locomotives. The eight small ladders atop the scoreboard flashed into electrical patterns. Strobe lights were atop the two highest ladders. Bombs and fireworks also were exploded from the firing platform.

1973
Dick Allen hit a lot of tape-measure home runs in his time with the White Sox, but this may have been his longest.

On a cool, damp night at Comiskey Park, Allen deposited a pitch from Baltimore’s Mike Cuellar onto the roof in left-center field. The pitch was unusual as it approached home plate, and many speculated that what Allen hit was a “Cuban Forkball” (i.e. spitball) that failed to break downwards. Allenhit one more home run on the night, in a 6-5 win.  

For many years afterwards the Sox hung a sign on the roof in left center field indicating where his ball passed over.

1979
Calling her the “most outstanding performer to play for the White Sox” in 1978, owner Bill Veeck declared it Nancy Faust Day. Faust was to be given “lots of presents” in an effort also to commemorate her 10th year with the White Sox. True to Veeck, however, fans would receive a direct benefit from the Night, as anyone bringing in a musical instrument (“even a comb with tissue in it”) would get half-off of their game ticket price.

As for the game, a chilly, 42° night drove down the size of the orchestra, as just 16,470 showed up for a lackluster, 5-2 loss to Detroit.

1987
Leading 1-0 in the sixth inning at Memorial Stadium, the White Sox blew the game open with three homers against the Orioles: Greg Walker went out deep to center to start the barrage, as Iván Calderón followed suit after a Carlton Fisk walk, and Tim Hulett finished off the scoring with a solo shot to left field. The White Sox would win the game, 5-1, with nine hits — eight coming from the trio of Walker, Calderón and Hulett.

1991
The White Sox lost what remains the eighth-longest game in their history, 10-9, to the Brewers in Milwaukee. The Sox blew leads of 5-0 and 9-6 in this one. The game went 18 2⁄3 innings and ran 6:05.

The game went so long that WGN-TV sports director Dan Roan, who was covering the game, had to do his evening sportscast from a parking lot at a bar just inside the state line on Route 41. He couldn’t get back to the studio in northern Chicago in time!

2006
In a wild, 8-6 win at Cleveland, Scott Podsednik again stole four bases in a game, tying a team record. However, in doing so for the third time in his White Sox career, Podsednik established himself as the only player to steal four bases in a game more than one time (Scotty Pods did so in three games, 30% of the 10 times it’s been achieved in franchise annals). Podsednik was on base five times (four singles, one walk) in six trips to the plate and scored three runs.

Podsenik stole third base as the lead runner on a double-steal with Tadahito Iguchi in the first inning and came home on Paul Konerko’s three-run blast; he was caught stealing in the second inning but made it to third base on an error at first base; in the sixth he stole second base, was picked off but a throwing error by pitcher Brian Slocum sent him instead to third; and stole second and third base in the ninth.

The win improved the first-place White Sox to 18-7 on the season.

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.

qmerkel asks: What do you think the Yankees will do with Luis Gil? Keep trying to develop him as a starter, move him to the bullpen, or trade him?

For now they’ll likely keep Gil stretched out as a starter down in Triple-A, since he’s the primary depth for the rotation should an injury occur to any of the current guys. Once Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón are back and fully built up to their regular workload, then perhaps the organization could consider utilizing Gil as a reliever, but with his current velocity issues that might not be a feasible transition to make. The only thing I’d rule out in the immediate is a trade, as the team would be selling on Gil for pennies on the dollar — perhaps he can rebound and remain useful to the team, or at the very least find enough of his old form to be of value in a trade, but at the moment it doesn’t seem worth it to give up on him for the equivalent of a lottery ticket or two.

Jmack175 asks:Still early to think about the deadline, but outside of 3B/SS, the most obvious upgrades are in the bullpen — if we stay atop the East, do you think Cash will go all in and get some lock down late inning guys, and if so, who might be realistic?

I think the answer to the bullpen is two-fold: Cashman will inevitably perform some remodeling and grab a handful of relievers to shake things up, but he also won’t go for the flashiest, high-priced closers. David Bednar was a solid grab last year, but the Yankees managed to nab him at an affordable price that set him well apart from the other closers that changed teams over the deadline. Now that his performance has waned (or more accurately, just become too stressful to trust on a day-to-day basis), they may look for another closer to pass the baton to, but an easier get would be a suitable set-up level reliever that could be trusted to get elevated into the closer’s role if need be. Then the rest of the work can focus on retooling the bottom of the ‘pen, finding better answers than Camilo Doval or Jake Bird to bring in for the middle of games that can still swing in their favor. Admittedly, this area is the one they could most likely support from within the organization with their extended rotation depth, but the Yankees are always hunting for the next hidden gem of an arm and I’d be shocked if they didn’t try to pluck one out from under another team again this year.

SHSBN26 asks:With Stanton making his usual return to the IL, why does the Martian (and more perplexing Schuemann) get the call before Spencer Jones?

Max Schuemann is more or less just a stand-in while they wait for Anthony Volpe’s rehab to conclude, as they don’t want to call up a reliever just to send them back down and potentially need them back on the roster a couple of days later only to be blocked by the minimum amount of days they’d need to stay in the minors before their next call up. I’d be shocked if he’s around for much longer, and that shock would have more to do with whatever they’d decide to do with Volpe rather than reinsert him to the 26-man roster.

Jasson Domínguez, on the other hand, got the promotion ahead of Spencer Jones for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, he has already been a major leaguer, giving him familiarity with the team that would help in filling a short-term need while not having to worry about a rookie being unprepared for the biggest stage. On top of that, Domínguez has looked much more competent against lefties than he did last season which bodes well should he be filling in Stanton’s spot at DH. Domínguez’s defense may still be suspect, but if they don’t need to play him in the field then his bat can be a boon for this lineup. His recent hit-by-pitch throws this all into a bit of doubt, as Domínguez himself may need to follow Stanton onto the IL if it’s serious, but a fluke injury is no cause for concern regarding whether he should’ve been the one taking the at-bat in the first place.

It was inevitable that Brandon Woodruff would land on the injured list after he had to leave Thursday’s start in the second inning with diminished velocity. His fastball was sitting at just 85 mph after it had been averaging 92.5 mph all season. Manager Pat Murphy was non-committal of an IL placement on Thursday after the game, but the writing was on the wall.

On Friday, the Brewers officially placed Woodruff on the 15-day IL with right shoulder inflammation. Reliever Easton McGee was recalled from Triple-A Nashville to take his roster spot.

The Brewers rotation is already missing Quinn Priester as he is still rehabbing from his wrist injury that took him out of the entire spring. Now, they’ll be missing Woodruff for the foreseeable future.

While Woodruff has not fully gotten back to the velocity he had prior to his 2023 shoulder injury, he was getting up to 96 mph at times and was still effective, pitching to a 3.60 ERA across 30 IP in his six starts this year. He had struck out 25 and walked just seven.

Woodruff told the media on Friday that there was nothing structurally wrong, he just needs to knock out the inflammation, and that he expects it to be close to a minimum stint on the IL.

McGee has been up and down a couple of times already this season and he’ll help provide another bullpen arm for the Brewers. After Woodruff’s short start, the bullpen had to get worked a little more to cover the rest of the game. Shane Drohan had four heroic innings in relief, but that also means Drohan won’t be available for a couple of days.

Woodruff’s next turn in the rotation is due up on Tuesday and it’s seemingly anyone’s guess as to who will get it. Drohan is a possibility since he covered the rest of that game on Thursday and is stretched out. There’s also Coleman Crow and Robert Gasser who both pitched in a doubleheader for Triple-A Nashville Thursday night and would be on regular rest. Then there’s Logan Henderson, who is currently slated to start on Sunday for Nashville and has a 1.02 ERA this season.

The Brewers do have the starting pitching depth to withstand the loss of Woodruff for the time being, but it’s still a big emotional loss for this team to not have their leader in the rotation. We saw how his return to the field impacted the team last year, with a 30-4 run after he came back. He’s highly respected and beloved in that clubhouse and it’s a tough blow to not have him out there every fifth day.

Look, the Giants didn’t have the kind of start we’d hoped for and the numbers from the first month of the season don’t tell us anything different from what we saw/psychically absorbed. The Giants were not a good baseball team, which doesn’t necessarily mean that they will be a bad baseball team going forward. Nobody wants to root for a bad team anyway. But it’s hard not to think about that label after all that unpleasantness.

Hitting

Of course, the season began with the New York Yankees John Wicking the Giants in Oracle Park for three games. Every facet of the Giants’ game received multiple headshots. While the Giants are 1 of 16 teams in MLB history to be shutout in the first 2 games of the season (only the 2016 Padres have been shutout in the first 3 games of a season), their place on the list stands out because they had the fewest hits (4) and total bases (5) of the bunch.

I tracked their 3-7 and 8-12 starts and compared to team history, finding mostly unfavorable comparisons with a couple of positive ones just to sustain a residue of hope. But this 13-18 start is the 12th occurrence in franchise history. Only in 3 of the 11 previous occurrences did a Giants team recover from a 13-18 start to have a winning record: 1920 (86-68), 1939 (77-74), and 2004 (91-71). It’s hard to compare pre-1960s baseball to what most of us understand about the sport today and it’s very difficult to compare Giants teams of the post-Barry Bonds era to teams that had Barry Bonds on them. But 13-18 was also the situation the 100-loss 1985 team found itself in and after a brief reprieve from the comp when the Giants were at 8-12, it’s sad to see them lined up once again.

As NBC Sports Bay Area highlighted last night, the Giants are last in runs per game (3.34), home runs (19), walk rate (5.6%), on base percentage (.289), slugging (.365), and OPS (.654). The offense has also been shutout a league-leading six times. If you’re a savvy reader, then you see the obvious stat that’s missing.

The one that caused me to gnash my teeth the other day in this post about the Giants simply giving up on working counts in order to make more contact. That team scored 91 runs through its first 31 games and slashed .217/.275/.309, so, it could be much, much worse.

That’s right. Batting average.

The Giants hit .247 in their first 31 games and, guess what, that’s 11th in MLB. So, take that, NBC Sports Bay Area! And just to really thumb our noses at those bozos (kidding!), that .247 average is the result of 259 hits, which are THE MOST hits in the first month of the season IN THE ORACLE PARK ERA! And it’s #1 by a lot. #2 on the list is the 2013 squad which had 240 hits to generate a line of .261/.318/.374.

You know, when I compare this result to the rest of the list, I think the esteemed Grant Brisbee had it right in his post yesterday: the Giants are simply not getting the hits when the count is in their favor. That’s a lot of hits with very few runs to show for it. Speaking of runs… the Giants’ league-worst 104 runs scored is 15th out of 26 seasons in the Oracle park era. The 2021 squad scored 106 in the first month of that season. The 2010 and 2012 teams scored 101 and 90, respectively, in their opening months.

A less obvious stat missing? Stolen bases. The Giants have 8. That is also last in MLB. According to FanGraphs, the team’s -3.7 Baserunning runs makes them the worst overall baserunning team in the sport through the first month of the season. After Drew Gilbert got held up yesterday, Heliot Ramos might agree.

The Giants were the third-worst team in the sport against right handed pitching (82 wRC+) behind just the Mets (80) and Red Sox (79). That’s remarkable because all three basically feature 5 prominent left-handed hitters each.

Individual highlights & lowlights

Rafael Devers: .207/.248/.289, 2 home runs, 5.4 BB%, 31 K%. Definitely the worst start to a season he’s ever had, but was it the worst month he’s ever had in his career? According to Stathead… no! That .537 OPS just barely edges out July 2020 (.536) and is comfortably ahead of August 2022 (.515) and September 2024 (.496). The only other time he’s had 40 strikeouts in a month, though? Ahem. Last April, when he struck out 40 times (27.2%) but walked 24 times (16.3%). He also had 5 home runs and 10 doubles (plus 19 RBI). A .787 OPS. Is Devers toast, though? April was not encouraging.

Willy Adames: .197/.240/.352, a .593 OPS, which is how his 2025 season started (.208/.292/.300 — .592 OPS). He also struck out 40 times, though, and that’s only the second time he’s hit that number in a month. The first time was in September 2022, but like Devers’ other 40-K example, Adames hit .263/.319/.451 with 5 homers and 21 RBI. He also walked 11 times compared to just 6 this past month.

Luis Arraez & Jung Hoo Lee: They lead the team in hits (36 & 33, respectively) and they’re having surprisingly great seasons so far. Arraez iws basically hitting as advertised, but it’s his defense that’s elevated him from a nice player to a borderline great one. Jung Hoo Lee has hit the ground running to the point that I think he’s one of the most important Giants going forward.

Patrick Bailey: He hit .288/.321/.493 (.814 OPS) in 78 plate appearances last September, but remove that month and he’s hitting .198/.259/.271 over his last 455 plate appearances.

Pitching

I don’t think the Giants expected to have a less valuable pitching staff than the Colorado Rockies, but that’s the situation right now (1.9 fWAR to Colorado’s 2.3). They have 3 of the 20 worst starters in the sport right now, including the 3rd and 4th worst:

1. Matthew Liberatore (STL): -0.4 fWAR in 30.1 IP
   2. Jameson Taillon (CHC): -0.2 fWAR in 34.2 IP
   3. Adrian Houser (SF): -0.2 fWAR in 30.1 IP
   4. Tyler Mahle (SF): -0.2 fWAR In 30.2 IP
   20. Robbie Ray (SF): +0.3 fWAR in 33.1 IP

Meanwhile, only Ryan Borucki (-0.2 fWAR), Matt Gage (-0.1) and Jose Butto (-0.2) have been drags on the relief corps. Erik Miller (+0.3 fWAR, 1.72 FIP) and Keaton Winn (+0.3 fWAR, 2.26 FIP) are the standouts, but neither cracks the top 30 in the sport — yet. Ryan Walker’s performance yesterday dropped him down to a replacement-level player still in positive value. Speaking of…

Individual highlights & lowlights

Ryan Walker: He threw 9 consecutive sinkers to Bryson Stott in the Game 1 loss of yesterday’s doubleheader and wound up throwing 20 sinkers overall out of 21 pitches in the appearance. 68.3% of Walker’s pitches this season have been sinkers and all of that work has amounted to +1 Run Value, according to Statcast. Run Value is derived from outcomes so it’s a situational stat unlike, say, velocity and spin. In those cases, although his sinker spin rate is the same, its velocity is down a half mile per hour compared to last season and his slider has lost about 100 rpm.

Logan Webb: He’s 4th in innings pitched with 44 which is good to see, but his 3.45 FIP is a significant incrase over the last several years. From 2021-2025 it was 2.90. It’s 3.45 in 7 starts. That’s not a terrible figure, but when combined with the precipitous drop in strikeouts (7.77 K/9) — remember, last year was a standout strikeout year for him with a 9.74 K/9 and an NL-leading 224 punchouts — and big leap in walks allowed (3.07 BB/9, up from 2.0 last year and 2.2 the year prior) it’s not cause for alarm, but certainly some concern and worth monitoring.

Landen Roupp: He might be having the same age-27 breakout as Casey Schmitt. His K/9 of 9.42 is up from 8.61 last season. Walks are holding steady (3.57 vs. 3.8 last year), and he’s allowed just 1 home run in 6 starts (35.1 IP). Oh, and his groundball rate is up nearly 10%. He is a top-25 pitcher right now and has the same value (+0.9 fWAR) as big ticket free agent Framber Valdez, the rudely dismissed Kevin Gausman, and the veteran Jacob deGrom. Great company!

Fielding

Perfectly balanced with 0 Outs Above Average as a team. On the other hand, Luis Arraez’s +6 Outs Above Average is tied with Bryson Stott for 4th place in fielding, trailing only Pete Crow-Armstrong (+8 in CF), Bobby Witt Jr. (+8 as a SS), and Nico Hoerner at 2B (+7). That’s… astonishing? Yeah, that’s the right word for it.

The rest of the Giants aren’t doing so hot. Matt Chapman is just +1 at third base and that’s either contributing to or caused by Willy Adames’s horrendous -4 Outs Above Average. He’s the 14th-worst outfielder in the entire sport and the second-worst shortstop behind only CJ Abrams (-5 OAA).

According to FanGraphs, they’re middle of the pack overall (-0.8 Defensive Runs Above Average — 16th in MLB), and even the catching position isn’t all that great when compared to teh field. Patrick Bailey and Daniel Susac and Eric Haase are a +3.6 Def, good enough for just 10th in MLB. For reference: the Mariners lead with +6.8.

Still, catcher, second base, and third base (+2.3) have been above average. It’s first base (-3.6), shortstop (-1.4), left field (-2.0), center (-1.1), and right (-2.3) where the team is in the bottom third of the league. That’s, uh, a lot of mediocre-to-bad defense.

So, it was a bad month. The question is, will it be the month that defines the team?

Happy May, Dodger fans! The Dodgers begin the most beautiful of months in first place, but just a half game ahead of the San Diego Padres. They also begin it in St. Louis at the start of a six-game road trip that includes a series in Houston.

At 18-13, St Louis is third in the NL Central, behind both the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs. They are coming off a four-game sweep of the Pirates in Pittsburgh after having been swept by Seattle at home.

Friday’s game will feature the pitching matchup of Matthew Liberatore and Emmet Sheehan. Liberatore is 0-1 with a 6.28 ERA in the six games in which he’s appeared. He is coming off his worst outing of the season, in which he lasted only 3.1 innings allowing five earned runs.

Sheehan is coming off one of his best appearances of the year, an outing against the Cubs in which he went 6.1 innings with just one earned run, striking out 10 while only allowing one walk.

Facing Liberatore could possibly help Freddie Freeman break out of his slump. Lifetime Freeman is batting .800 against Liberatore with a 1.633 OPS. Shohei Ohtani also has a homer against him.

One thing to watch for is the Cardinals bullpen usage. Seven of their bullpen arms have been used heavily in the last three games, with six having thrown 30 or more pitches in the last three games, and five having thrown 15 or more yesterday. The bullpen staff as a whole has a 5.15 ERA, fifth worse in all of baseball, and they own the fourth-worst K/BB rate.

Cardinals baseball this season has been a bit of a roller coaster ride. They have 10 comeback wins, three of which were walk-offs. They are prone to having big leads and losing it because of the aforementioned bullpen, or they are clawing their way back into games. The Red Birds are 6-2 in one run games, and 5-0 in extra innings.

The team is hoping their first day off after 13 straight games will help their struggling offense. They limped through the end of the series against the Miami Marlins, scoring a measly three runs in the last two games. Facing a beleaguered bullpen could be just what the doctor ordered for the offense to be their super powered selves again.

FRIDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers at Cardinals
• Ballpark: Busch Stadium
• Time: 5:15 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

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The Toronto Blue Jays are looking for a bounce-back offensively tonight, and with Simeon Woods Richardson on the mound for the Minnesota Twins, they should be able to put up some crooked numbers on the scoreboard.

Find out more in my Blue Jays vs. Twins predictions and MLB picks for Friday, May 1.

Blue Jays vs Twins predictions

Blue Jays vs Twins best bet: Simeon Woods Richardson Over 2.5 earned runs (-120)

Simeon Woods Richardson is 0-4 with a 6.30 ERA this season, and he's currently allowing a .902 opponent OPS.

The Minnesota Twins right-hander has also been roughed up by this Toronto Blue Jays lineup, which owns a 1.237 OPS against Woods-Richardson.

In three career starts against Toronto, including one from earlier this year, the Twins starter owns an 11.25 career ERA, allowing five runs in each start.

Having surrendered 3+ runs in four straight outings, expect SWR to have a hard time against a Jays offense that is starting to heat up and get healthy.

COVERS INTEL: The Blue Jays have plated 15 runs in just three starts against Simeon Woods-Richardson.

Blue Jays vs Twins same-game parlay (SGP)

I’ll continue to fade Woods Richardson by taking Under 14.5 outs tonight. He’s never made it out of the fifth inning against the Blue Jays, averaging just 12 outs in those three outings. 

Kazuma Okamoto should also take advantage of this matchup against SWR, who leans heavily on his four-seam fastball — a pitch Okamoto owns a .340 batting average against.

Blue Jays vs Twins SGP

• Simeon Woods Richardson Over 2.5 earned runs
• Simeon Woods Richardson Under 14.5 recorded outs
• Kazuma Okamoto Over 0.5 hits 

Blue Jays vs Twins home run pick: Kazuka Okamoto (+450)

Woods-Richardson throws a heavy dose of the four-seam fastball, which Okamoto has handled well this season.

Along with boasting a .340 BA against the pitch, the Japanese third baseman has posted a .638 slugging rate, with four of his five home runs coming off the four-seamer.

Blue Jays vs Twins odds

• Moneyline: Blue Jays -110 | Twins -110
• Run line: Blue Jays -1.5 (+155) | Twins +1.5 (-180)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (-120) | Under 8.5 (+100)

Blue Jays vs Twins trend

Toronto has covered the run line in seven of its last 11 games (+4.25 Units / 37% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Blue Jays vs. Twins.

How to watch Blue Jays vs Twins and game info

Blue Jays vs Twins latest injuries

Blue Jays vs Twins weather

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The Cincinnati Reds are upriver in Pittsburgh on Friday to begin a weekend series against the Pirates. A Reds/Pirates series – starting on the first of May – and yet somehow, it feels like must-watch television.

That’s a bummer for a lot of you, since tonight’s game is going to be broadcast quite poorly on Apple TV. For those who do find a way to track it down and experience it, though, this game is going to have more on the line in the National League Central than it has in quite some time.

Cincinnati will luckly dodge Paul Skenes in this series, as he pitched just yesterday in the team’s 10-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in that series finale. That dropped the Bucs to 16-16 on the season, but they are still a team that very much looks to be eschewing their decade-long reputation as perennial bottom feeders after several of their key players have begun to emerge.

Oneil Cruz is knocking the crud out of the ball, finally. Ryan O’Hearn has hit the ground running as a rare legitimate free agent signee. Brandon Lowe has made Pittsburgh’s decision to trade for him this offseason look incredibly prescient, and we haven’t even mentioned that Konnor Griffin has been promoted (and given a massive extension) to help officially move the franchise forward to the next phase of their arduous rebuild.

As a team, Pittsburgh boasts a .317 wOBA, good for a middle-of-the-pack 17th overall. That’s ahead of Cincinnati’s .314 by a hair, even though xwOBA thinks the Reds should have a much better offense than the Pirates so far. Pittsburgh’s 3.82 ERA (8th) and 3.73 xERA (t-5th) show it’s their pitching staff on which they’ve truly been leaning so far, though again, the Reds will miss Skenes this series.

Righty Mitch Keller gets the starting nod tonight in the series opener opposite Reds righty Brady Singer. First pitch (on Apple TV, sadly) is slated for 6:45 PM ET.

Here’s how the Reds will line up for the opener:

The longest road trip on the Braves’ 2026 schedule is here.

The team kicks off May with its only three-city road trip of the season, a nine-game jaunt which carries through next weekend.

Unfortunately for us people who appreciate a healthy night’s rest, this trip is back on the West Coast, starting Friday night in Denver against the Colorado Rockies.

But thankfully, there’s only one of those left over the final 4.5 months of the season (at the Giants and Padres in late June) after this one.

So prep your coffee pots for an extra shift and get ready for some elevation shenanigans the next few days at Coors Field.

The Braves will turn to Grant Holmes (2-1, 3.62 ERA) to open the trip. The right-hander, who is coming off back-to-back starts against the Phillies, has been a bit of a one-off-inning guy of late. He allowed two runs in the third and one in the fifth last Saturday against Philadelphia. In each of his prior three starts against the Phillies, Marlins and Angels, the two, three and two runs he allowed, respectively, each came in a single inning.

Holmes has been living a bit dangerously, with 20 hits allowed and 21 strikeouts to 12 walks in 27 1/3 innings. But to date, he hasn’t been burned badly, going six innings in three of his last five starts and not allowing more than three runs in any of his first six starts.

He’ll be facing off against Rockies left-hander Jose Quintana (1-2, 4.91), who the Braves have some familiarity with from his 2023-24 tenure as a Met. It’s still early in the season but Quintana’s Colorado tenure has not gotten off to the best start. He spent time on the injured list with a right hamstring strain after making his first start and his 4.91 ERA through four starts is his worst since 2021 and the second-worst of his 15-year major league career.

He also has more walks (11) than strikeouts (nine).

However, he may have found something last time out, working a season-long 5 1/3 innings and allowing one run on two hits, striking out five and walking two in a 3-1 win at the New York Mets on Sunday.

This will be just his second home start of the season, but the first didn’t go very well. He allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits over five innings against the Dodgers on April 20. That start also saw him surrender two of the four homers he’s given up through four starts, something Atlanta will look to exploit as the team which has hit the third-most homers in the majors this season (43) in the launching pad that Coors can be.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Friday, May 1, 8:40 p.m. EDT

Location: Coors Field, Denver, CO

TV: BravesVision

Streaming: MLB.tv (and Braves.tv if you’re in-market, etc.)

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

Things have cooled down for the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates lately, as the organization is no longer running out a quartet of teams incapable of losing. But it’s still a very exciting time to be following prospects, and each of the teams is a lot of fun, even if the red-hot starts have mostly cooled off. Plus, the Arizona Complex League gets started this weekend, bringing a fifth team into the fold!

For now, though, it’s just four. So let’s see what they did on Thursday.

Link to the 2026 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.

AAA Sacramento (16-12)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the Salt Lake Bees (Angels) 4-2
Box score

Well that was a dud of an offensive performance. A day after scoring 17 runs, the River Cats had just 2 … which, in Salt Lake, is basically like getting shut out.

Sacramento mustered just 4 hits on the day, but half of them belonged to left fielder Victor Bericoto (No. 35 CPL), who went 2-4 with a double and a strikeout, providing not just 50% of the team’s hits, but 100% of their extra-base knocks and 100% of their RBIs.

Bericoto hasn’t been lighting the world on fire, but he’s hit safely in 12 of the last 13 games, and that includes 6 multi-hit games. His overall performance is quite encouraging, especially since this is his 1st real experience in AAA after 11 games there last year. His contact has been extremely impressive, as he has a .306 batting average and just an 18.5% strikeout rate, which has led to an .820 OPS and a 119 wRC+. A very solid season for someone who could factor into the Major League team’s plans sometime this summer or fall.

Designated hitter Buddy Kennedy had the only other notable day on offense, hitting 1-3 with a walk and his 1st stolen base of the year. Kennedy remains one of Sacramento’s hottest hitters, and while he’s more a depth signing than a developing prospect, he’s a good guy to have around should anyone get injured, especially since Tyler Fitzgerald is no longer in the system.

Unfortunately, the non-Bericoto big names in Sacramento’s lineup were all absent, either due to not playing well or not playing at all. A day after lighting the baseball field on fire with a 4-hit, 2-homer special, first baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 1 CPL) went 0-4 and struck out 3 times, while second baseman Nate Furman (No. 39 CPL) went 0-4, and right fielder Grant McCray hit 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Jesús Rodríguez (No. 16 CPL) didn’t play.

Sacramento went with a bullpen game after the scheduled starter, RHP Trevor McDonald (No. 12 CPL), was flown out to Philly to be the Giants 27th man in the doubleheader, though he didn’t pitch there, either (and was optioned today). The River Cats used a quartet of pitchers who are on the 40-man roster, and that quartet resulted in 1 awful outing and 3 great ones.

RHP Spencer Bivens opened the game and again struggled, giving up 3 hits, 1 walk, and 3 runs in just 2 innings of work, while striking out 2 batters. It took very little time for Bivens to go from looking like he’d make the Opening Day roster to struggling mightily in AAA, and he’s now given up 3 runs in each of his last 3 games (though in 1 of those games only 2 of the runs were earned). That has tanked his ERA up to 6.46, and his FIP to 5.90. At this point it might be fair to wonder if his roster spot is starting to be in jeopardy.

But the other rostered pitchers were perfect. Literally! Following a 2-inning, 3-baserunner, 1-run appearance by LHP prospect Nick Zwack, rehabbing LHP Sam Hentges handled all 3 hitters in the 5th inning with 2 strikeouts. RHP Dylan Smith followed it up with 2 perfect frames that featured a pair of strikeouts, and RHP Joel Peguero (No. 27 CPL) finished off the pitching performance with a clean 8th inning that had a strikeout in it, and required just 12 pitches.

Hentges is the name that Giants fans will be looking closely at, given the disaster going on with Ryan Borucki, who seems to just be keeping the third southpaw reliever seat warm until Hentges is ready. His rehab has gone well from a production standpoint, but he hasn’t looked himself, and the velocity has been noticeably down. That was, unfortunately, still the case in this game. While he had a nice game, his fastball — which averaged 95 mph in his last MLB stint in 2024 — sat 92, and peaked at 92.5.

Smith continues to impress in his debut season with the organization, and has now thrown scoreless outings in 6 of his 7 appearances, including 4 times not allowing any hits. Peguero has fluctuated between great and quite poor, and well probably stay in Sacramento after his rehab is complete.

AA Richmond (18-4)

Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Altoona Curve (Pirates) 18-6 (11 innings)
Box score

And now, for the most Minor League game imaginable. An 18-6 extra-innings victory. You don’t see that every day! Richmond trailed 4-2 entering the 8th inning, then tied the game. They took a 5-4 lead in the 9th, then blew the save in the bottom half of the inning. They took a 6-5 lead in the 10th, then blew the save in the bottom half of the inning.

And then they scored 12 runs in the 11th inning.

Leading the charge was the extremely exciting outfield duo of center fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) and left fielder Scott Bandura. Davidson is unquestionably Richmond’s top prospect, and while his season has been somewhat rocky — and also interrupted by both an injury (bad!) and a child (good!) — it’s also had plenty of highlights, and provided ample reason for optimism.

Thursday’s game as much more the latter than the former, as Davidson hit 3-6 on the day, drew a walk, and capped the 12-run 11th inning with a majestic 3-run home run that cleared the fence by a mile. Admittedly that home run came off of a catcher who was thrown onto the mound for mop-up duty, but hey! They all look the same on the back of the baseball card!

Davidson’s numbers are still trying to catch up to his teammates, as he has a .765 OPS and a 91 wRC+ on the year, but he’s striking out just 23.2% of the time, and hitting a home run every 13.8 plate appearances. He does have a little bit of a Munetaka Murakami thing going on right now, though, as he’s hitting just .230 and doesn’t have any doubles or triples despite his 5 home runs.

As for Bandura, whose prospect status has at times been overshadowed by Davidson (the pair were promoted together last year), it was more of the same on Thursday, which is to say his excellent season remained excellent. He hit 3-4 in the game and drew 3 walks while striking out once … and while Davidson capped the scoring, Bandura started it, with a home run to lead off the 1st inning.

Bandura, who was also caught stealing once, is now up to a 1.033 OPS and a 168 wRC+ on the season, as he continues to obliterate the Eastern League. The 24-year old, taken in the 7th round in 2023 out of Princeton, has taken huge strides this year, especially in the contact department. He had a 30.6% strikeout rate and an 11.6% swinging strike rate during his 2-month stint with Richmond last year, which followed a 24.1% strikeout rate and a 9.1% swinging strike rate in High-A Eugene. This year? Just a 17.4% strikeout rate and an 8.0% swinging strike rate. Really couldn’t ask for a better start to the season, and it’s hard to find a positional group in the farm that’s as exciting as Richmond’s outfielders (the 3rd player in that exciting trio, right fielder Jonah Cox, only hit 1-5 on Thursday, but did lay down a sacrifice bunt and steal his organization-leading 14th and 15th bases).

Third baseman Parks Harber (No. 17 CPL) is starting to settle into the level and had his best game yet, hitting 3-6 with a double and a walk. Harber missed the 1st few weeks of the season rehabbing the hamstring injury that he sustained during Spring Training, but is starting to get into a groove. After striking out 10 times in his 1st 4 games of the year, he didn’t have a single strikeout in this game.

It was a very bad pitching day, with Richmond avoiding trouble despite issuing 13 walks and allowing 13 hits. It was a funny day in the walk department … not only did the Squirrels allow 13 of them, but they worked 11 of them!

Starting LHP Joe Whitman (No. 26 CPL) had quite a tough go of it, needing 73 pitches to record just 10 outs. He wasn’t the worst walk offender — he only issued 2 of them in 3.1 innings — but also only threw 42 pitches for strikes. In all, it was the issue that has plagued Whitman for most of his career that bit him on Thursday: throwing too many hittable pitches, especially with his fastball. He gave up 6 hits (which included a pair of doubles), while striking out 3 batters.

All of that added up to 3 earned runs to his name, moving his ERA to 6.04. His FIP remains a much more palatable 3.57, the result of a very nice strikeout rate (11.3 per 9) and a very solid walk rate (3.2 per 9). But, just as he did last year at the same level, the 2023 2nd-round pick is simply allowing way too many hits: in 22.1 innings this year, the 24-year old Whitman has given up 22 hits, which includes 8 extra-base knocks.

The bullpen was bad, and RHP Tyler Vogel gave up 3 hits and 3 walks in 2 innings, though somehow only got tagged for 2 runs and 1 earned run. After a brilliant start to the season, Vogel has now had back-to-back rough games, though he still has just a 1.80 ERA … but a 6.01 FIP, the result of 11 walks in 10 innings.

High-A Eugene (18-5)

Eugene Emeralds beat Spokane (Rockies) 7-5
Box score

It was also a walk-heavy day for the Emeralds hitters, who only had 6 hits on the day but drew a whopping 12 free passes. That primarily came from the star-studded top of the order: the leadoff hitter, center fielder Trevor Cohen (No. 15 CPL), hit 1-3 with a double and a strikeout, and drew 2 walks. The No. 2 hitter, shortstop Gavin Kilen (No. 7 CPL), also hit 1-3 with 2 walks. And the No. 3 hitter, center fielder Dakota Jordan (No. 5 CPL) didn’t put the ball in play all day, striking out twice while taking the slow jog to first base on 3 different occasions.

Walks may not be part of San Francisco’s plan, unfortunately, but for that trio it’s par for the course. Cohen, the team’s 3rd-round pick last year, has a 17.8% walk rate on the season, which has given him a .708 OPS and a 112 wRC+ despite hitting just .220 with limited power. Kilen, the organization’s reigning 1st-round pick, has a more modest but still solid 9.0% walk rate, while striking out just 20.0% of the time, and he’s now at a .767 OPS and a 114 wRC+. And Jordan? Well, it feels like all he does is draw walks, hit for power, and strike out. Thursday’s game brought his walk rate up to 13.1%, but his strikeout rate up to 31.3%. In all, the 2024 4th-round selection has a .896 OPS and a 149 wRC+, and in 99 plate appearances this year has struck out, walked, or had an extra-base hit 54 times. Talk about 3 true outcomes!

That trio set the stage for the cleanup hitter, left fielder Carlos Gutierrez (No. 18 CPL). And because Gutierrez had the team’s best day, they won, with the 21-year old lefty hitting 2-5 with a triple, a double, and 3 runs batted in.

Gutierrez is not your prototypical cleanup hitter, as he’s a speedy contact maven who doesn’t have a ton of power … though the contact hasn’t always been there this year, and he showed up to Eugene looking notably bigger and more athletic, and has turned that into some pretty productive power. Despite having just a .229 batting average (it was .351 with Low-A San Jose last year), Gutierrez is rocking a .759 OPS and a 113 wRC+, the result of 9 extra-base hits in 79 plate appearances and a 10.1% walk rate. He sure is one of the more fun players in the system.

It was a dual starter game for the Emeralds, with RHP Ryan Slater — who faced just 1 batter — providing the only true bullpen work. Those piggybacking starters, LHP Tyler Switalski and RHP Niko Mazza, however, had very different days.

Mazza was the star. He entered to start the 6th inning, and handled the final 4 innings of the game smoothly and easily, giving up just 4 baserunners (2 singles and 2 walks), allowing no runs, and striking out 3 batters. The 2024 8th-round pick out of Southern Mississippi has struggled with walks this year, but lately he’s been nearly unhittable. After a pair of rough outings to begin the year, Mazza has pitched 13 shutout innings over his last 3 games, and allowed just 4 hits, while striking out 16 batters. Paired with the rough start — and the many walks — Mazza has a 3.44 ERA and a 4.34 FIP on the year.

As for Switalski, well … you can’t be perfect forever. The funky southpaw, taken in the 16th round in 2024 out of West Virginia, had been nothing short of excellent to start the year, until Thursday’s start. He found the strike zone fairly well, and struck out 6 batters in 4.2 innings with just 1 walk, but he also gave up 7 hits, which included 2 home runs and 2 doubles, all of which tattooed him for 5 earned runs.

That was quite outside of his character. Switalski wasn’t a big strikeout guy last year, but between San Jose and Eugene he allowed just 75 hits in 96.2 innings … and just 3 home runs. He’s matched that home run total in his last 2 starts this year. Still, he has just a 2.78 ERA and a 3.71 FIP on the season and has dramatically improved both his strikeout and walk rates year over year.

Low-A San Jose (16-8)

San Jose Giants beat the Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks) 13-12
Box score

Double-digit runs for the 7th time already this season! If only the Major League Giants could take a hint from the Minor League Giants!

Despite the high-scoring affair on both ends, the star of the game actually came on the mound. San Jose gave up all their runs from the 6th inning onward, meaning one thing: it was a star showing by the starter. And that starter is someone who is heating up in a big way: RHP Argenis Cayama (No. 13 CPL).

We’re all familiar with the concept of a player performing better (or worse) than their stats, but that happens a lot more in the Minors, where the focus is on development. Cayama had a great game statistically, but it underscores just how good he was, and how encouraging the start was. As we’ve seen a few times this year with top pitching prospects, the trouble for Cayama came at the end of his outing, as the Giants tried to push him a little bit deeper into a game.

But Cayama was utterly dominant up to that point. How dominant, you ask? Through 5 innings he had allowed just 1 baserunner: a bunt single. Thanks to that hitter then getting thrown out by catcher Daniel Rogers, Cayama had faced the minimum entering the 6th inning, which included striking out the side in the 5th inning.

In the 6th he ran into some trouble, and even that was very mild: he hit a batter, and gave up an RBI double. He departed the mound with just that 1 run having scored, though RHP Jose T. Perez would allow the inherited runner to score, giving Cayama a pair of earned runs, which really doesn’t do the rest of his line justice: 5.2 innings, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 hit batter, 8 strikeouts.

Cayama got rocked a bit in his 1st outing of the year, but since then has been better than advertised. His 4 starts since that opener have seen him throw 19.2 innings while allowing just 14 hits and 4 runs. But most impressively? Even including that 1st game, Cayama has struck out 30 batters in 23.1 innings … and walked 1.

30 strikeouts. 1 walk.

Cayama was a breakout star on the Complex League last year, but really struggled during a late season stint with San Jose, which was understandable given how young he was for the level, and the fact that he had nearly tripled the innings total from his debut season the year prior. No one should have been concerned with Cayama’s A-ball perfermance last year, and now he’s showing exactly why. He looks so much stronger and more physical this year, and the 19-year old is thoroughly dominating the level. What a joy to watch.

Unfortunately, it was nearly wasted by the bullpen, as Perez gave up 3 hits, 3 walks, and 5 earned runs while recording just 1 out, and RHP Melvin Pineda ceded 3 hits, 1 walk, and 3 earned runs, while also just recording 1 out. Both of those players saw their ERAs balloon past 15 which, I’m being told, is not very good.

RHP Garrett Langrell also gave up some runs, as he allowed 4 hits and 2 runs in 2.2 innings. But last year’s 16th-round pick struck out 5 batters, as he is looking like the bullpen’s version of Cayama: in 13.1 innings, the 24-year old has 20 strikeouts and just 1 walk. Fantastic!

It was all about the long ball on offense, as the Baby Giants had 3 home runs and no other extra-base hits (they did have 13 singles and 8 walks, though). Those dingers came from a trio of fairly unheralded prospects: Rogers, second baseman Isaiah Barkett, and third baseman Dario Reynoso.

Rogers hit 1-3 on the day with a solo shot, while also drawing a walk and getting hit by a pitch. He went undrafted last year out of Iowa, but performed well in a short stint with San Jose. He’s only played in 6 games this year, but he’s 5-21 with 2 extra-base hits and 3 walks, so he’s certainly holding his own, especially since he provides nice defense behind the dish.

As for Barkett, he hit 3-6 and smacked a 3-run shot, his 2nd of the year. Last year’s 10th-round pick is off to a blistering start this year, with a 1.048 OPS and a 167 wRC+, while playing all over the field (mostly at second, but a little time at third and in the outfield, as well). Barkett didn’t go to a big school (he played at Stetson), but still, he’s looked completely unfazed by Cal League pitchers, as he has a .383 average, and just an 11.0% strikeout rate. Pretty exciting stuff!

As for Reynoso, he hit 1-4 with a 2-run blast and a walk, while also striking out twice. Getting the ball over the fence had to feel nice for the recently-turned 21-year old, as he blasted 10 home runs in 53 Complex League games last year, but this big fly — in his 31st game with San Jose — was his 1st A-Ball dinger. As he has done throughout his entire career, Reynoso is getting a ton of hits (.276 average), drawing an absurd amount of walks (17.6%), and striking out way, way too much (32.4%). The overall package is an .804 OPS and a 122 wRC+.

Also nice days for shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 3 CPL), who hit 3-6, and now has a .991 OPS and a 147 wRC+, and designated hitter Broedy Poppell, who went 2-4 with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts, raising his OPS to .649 and his wRC+ to 80.

Home run tracker

5 — Bo Davidson — [AA]
3 — Scott Bandura — [AA]
2 — Isaiah Barkett — [Low-A]
1 — Dario Reynoso — [Low-A]
1 — Daniel Rogers — [Low-A]

Friday schedule

Sacramento: 5:35 p.m. PT at Salt Lake (SP: TBD)
Richmond: 2:00 p.m. PT doubleheader at Altoona (SP: Trystan Vrieling)
Eugene: 6:35 p.m. PT vs. Spokane (SP: Luis De La Torre)
San Jose: 6:35 p.m. PT at Visalia (SP: TBD)

When Blake Snell took the mound for the Ontario Tower Buzzers Tuesday night, his primary focus was continuing his ramp up for when he rejoins the Dodgers in the next few weeks.

However, that focus appeared to wane when Snell began throwing warm up pitches.

In a video posted to social media, the Ontario game presentation crew surprised Snell when they played his rap song while he warmed up. As seen in the video, Snell didn’t appear to like the music and after about 10 seconds, the song cuts out immediately after Snell looks up towards the press area.

Snell threw 3.0 innings and gave up one hit with six strikeouts.

Snell’s amateur rap career started in 2012 when he released the track “Rising Stars,” which featured Snell dropping bars while wearing a Tampa Bay Rays hat. He was drafted by Tampa Bay in the supplemental first round (52nd overall) of the 2011 MLB June Amateur Draft.

Our favorite rapperpic.twitter.com/0of59llk8n

— Ontario Tower Buzzers (@towerbuzzers) April 30, 2026

He made his big league debut on April 23, 2016 with the Rays and quickly emerged as one of the best pitchers in baseball. He won the AL Cy Young award in 2018 after he finished 21-5 with a 1.89 ERA but was then traded to the Padres 2021, where he won the NL Cy Young award in 2023 when he went 14-9 with a 2.25 ERA.

After a short stint with the Giants, Snell joined the Dodgers last year and was lights out, helping Los Angeles win their second consecutive World Series title.

However, that long season took its toll on Snell and his high-priced left arm. Shoulder fatigue plagued him through the winter and forced him to begin the year on the injured list.

Snell has completed two minor-league starts already as part of a rehab assignment and is scheduled to next take the mound for four innings Sunday with Triple-A Oklahoma City. After that, the team will decide whether he’s ready to return or will need another minor-league outing to get further built up.

While his return status is TBD, it’s pretty apparent that “Rising Stars” will not be making a cameo at Chavez Ravine.

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Everything we know about Alex Cora during his rudely interrupted tenure as manager of the Boston Red Sox lines up almost perfectly with everything we knew about him as a Dodgers player more than 20 years ago.

He communicates exceptionally well. He quietly makes a positive contribution. He handles failure admirably. Win or lose, he exhibits class.

Nothing has tested those traits more than what Cora, 50, endured over the last week. The man known throughout baseball as AC was fired by Boston on Sunday, turned down an offer to manage the Philadelphia Phillies a day later, then, while home in Puerto Rico, saw that an ultimatum he made last season to general manager Craig Breslow was reported by the Boston Globe.

Cora somehow found time to pen an expression of gratitude to the Red Sox organization and fans.

"Thank you for treating me with respect and most importantly accept me as AC," he wrote. "I’m grateful for this experience, it made me better.

"Thank you for the hard work, sleepless nights, professionalism and effort to help me lead this great organization."

Communication and class until the end, no doubt. Yet the single blemish on his resume is eternally painful to Dodgers fans.

Cora was the Houston Astros' bench coach in 2017 when the Dodgers were victimized by a sign-stealing scheme during the World Series, which the Astros won in seven games.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred released a report in January 2020 that detailed how in 2017 and 2018 the Astros illegally used electronic equipment to steal signs. Cora was central to the scheme, the report saying he “arranged for a video-room technician to install a monitor displaying the center-field camera feed immediately outside of the Astros dugout.”

By 2020, though, Cora was beloved in Boston for piloting the Red Sox to the 2018 World Series championship over the Dodgers in his first season as manager. Nevertheless, he was fired a day after the report was released and suspended by MLB for the 2020 season.

Cora was rehired as Boston’s manager after serving his suspension, stating he would apologize for the rest of his life. And on the first day of spring training in 2023, he addressed his role in the scandal, apologizing to three new Red Sox players who were Dodgers in 2017: Kenley Jansen, Justin Turner and Kiké Hernández.

The mea culpa was well-received by the trio and underscored Cora's ability to smooth over even the most awkward situations.

“I’m going to be 100% honest with you — I just felt like I wanted to cry at that moment when he said that,” Jansen told a Boston radio station. “I felt like a weight came off."

It's now known that Cora backed his coaches when Breslow wanted to fire several of them last season. The Globe reported that Cora told the general manager that the Red Sox would have to fire him as well.

Breslow backed down then but not last week, firing five coaches along with Cora.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombroski responded swiftly, making Cora an offer even before firing manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday. The well-traveled Dombroski has led four franchises to a World Series — an MLB record — including one alongside Cora with the Red Sox in 2018, and the offer to jump to the Phillies was tempting.

But Cora put family first, telling Dombroski he wanted to take time with his fiancée, Angelica, and twin 8-year-old sons, Xander and Isander. After all, he is still under contract with the Red Sox through 2027, and is owed $14 million.

That's about what he earned in 14 seasons as an infielder properly labeled as a good-field, no-hit, great clubhouse presence. Cora was the Dodgers' primary shortstop in 2000 and 2001, then moved to second base through 2004.

The Dodgers' center fielder from 2002 to the 2004 midseason was Dave Roberts, the current Dodgers manager who remains a close friend of Cora's. The 2018 World Series was the first to feature two minority managers — a point of pride for the Puerto Rican-born Cora and for Roberts, who is half Black and half Japanese.

Cora won a World Series as a Red Sox reserve in 2007 and finished with a career batting average of .243 with a paltry 35 home runs in 3,825 plate appearances — the most memorable of which came May 12, 2004.

Cora capped an 18-pitch at-bat that included 14 foul balls with a home run against Chicago Cubs right-hander Matt Clement.

“What a moment! 9:23 on the scoreboard, if you want to write it down for history. What an at-bat!” Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully exclaimed. “That’s one of the finest at-bats I’ve ever seen, and to top it off with a home run, that is really shocking.”

Cora took a curtain call from the Dodger Stadium crowd and Scully said, “Yeah take a bow, Alex! You deserve it and then some!”

What Cora almost undoubtedly has earned now is another shot at managing. His 620-541 record is well above average. His reputation — sign-stealing scandal notwithstanding — is glowing.

The Phillies hired former Dodgers manager Don Mattingly on an interim basis and likely will circle back to Cora after the season. If not, other teams are expected to come calling.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Every day, Pinstripe Alley offers updates on what the Yankees’ top American League opponents are up to through the Rivalry Roundup. The AL East is well-trodden ground there, but one full month into the season, we’re going to take a peek around MLB as a whole and check in with each of the other five divisions. Who’s surprising? Who’s underwhelming? Who’s simply mediocre at the moment? Read on and find out.

First Place: The Athletics (17-14)

Top Position Player: Shea Langeliers (1.4 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Aaron Civale/Jack Perkins (0.6 fWAR)

Who woulda thought? The Don’t-Call-Them-Sacramento Athletics lead a tight race atop the AL West through the end of April with the third-best record in the American League. Now, that’s more an indictment on how bad the Junior Circuit has been so far, but the A’s have made it work with series wins over the Yankees, Mariners, and Rangers.

While their calling card entering the year was a sneakily stacked lineup, they’ve actually been slightly below average despite some big individual performances. Shea Langeliers has been the best catcher in the AL through April, posting a 165 wRC+ in 30 games, but the real standout here is former Mets prospect and right fielder Carlos Cortes, who’s hitting .391 with a wRC+ of 210 in 78 plate appearances. Think they’re regretting letting him leave in minor league free agency over in Queens?

The reasons behind the offense’s early struggles are a more tame start for Nick Kurtz (.425 SLG but a 23.7% BB%), an underwhelming Jacob Wilson (85 wRC+), and a downright terrible start for both Lawrence Butler (51 wRC+, -0.3 fWAR) and Brent Rooker, who’s currently on the injured list after a nightmarish first 15 games.

The pitching has been a mixed bag as well. J.T. Ginn, Aaron Civale, and Jeffrey Springs have all been solid in the starting rotation, while they’ve gotten mixed results from old friend Luis Severino. The only weak link seems to be Jacob Lopez, whose peripherals match his high ERA and negative K-BB%.

Hogan Harris has been a star in their bullpen, shouldering a heavy workload (17 appearances) with a 2.65 ERA, but he’s a candidate for regression with his high walk rate and LOB%. Mark Leiter Jr. is struggling as their setup man, but closer Joel Kuhnel, Scott Barlow, and former Yankees prospect Luis Medina have produced for a league-average bullpen.

That’s been the story of the A’s so far, perfectly average in every aspect. That wouldn’t be so bad if it sustained.

Second Place: Seattle Mariners (16-16)

Top Position Player: Randy Arozarena (1.1 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Logan Gilbert/George Kirby (0.8 fWAR)

Good teams have slow starts every single year, but how long they last can be a big indicator of just how good that team is. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, or even the Mets rebounded to sneak into the playoffs, but they all sit below .500 after April. It’s even cost a few managers their jobs.

For Seattle, they’ve rebounded from an 8-13 start to be at .500 as the month ends, and the reason why they’ve started playing like the division favorite they are is that their slumbering offense is finally waking up. All of a sudden, they’re seventh in wRC+ despite agonizingly slow starts from Cal Raleigh, Josh Naylor, and Julio Rodriguez. All three remain below average, but have rebounded from being among the worst hitters in baseball through two weeks.

Brendan Donovan was mashing and looked like a slam-dunk all-star starter before getting hurt, Dominic Canzone and Cole Young were breaking out as fixtures at right field and second base, and Randy Arozarena has been as solid as ever. The fact that they have such a deep lineup, even with the heart of the order struggling, makes you feel good about them still winning this division.

They’ve only needed five starting pitchers so far, and four of them are doing good work. The quartet of Bryan Woo, Logan Gilbert, Emerson Hancock, and George Kirby all have microscopic walk rates and good results to back it up. It’s aesthetically pleasing for a starter to be filling the strike zone and being effective. The weak link is, shockingly, the typically steady Luis Castillo, who’s been downright bad since his strong start against the Yankees at the end of March with a 6.35 ERA in 28 innings over six starts.

Seattle’s bullpen is fourth-ranked in baseball, which doesn’t match the eye test. I vividly remember their collapse against the Padres on April 15th and their near-collapse a few days later against Texas, but they’ve been awesome aside from that. Cole Wilcox is struggling, and the disaster in San Diego skews Andrés Muñoz’s numbers, but they’ve gotten strong months from Jose A. Ferrer, Eduard Bazardo, and Matt Brash, who’ve pitched to soft contact with efficacy.

It’s hard to see a team in this division that can get to the Mariners’ level if the big bats start hitting.

Third Place: Texas Rangers (15-16)

Top Position Player: Josh Jung (1.0 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Jacob deGrom (0.9 fWAR)

We just saw the Rangers deep in the heart of Texas, as the Yankees took two of three from another middling AL West club that hasn’t been able to gain momentum through the first month of the season.

The offense is mediocre, ranking around 20th in most categories. Josh Jung is fully breaking out after a rough first week, and Brandon Nimmo has been great, even though he went down with a hamstring injury on Wednesday. Outside of them, they have Corey Seager barely above the Mendoza line, young guys like Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford (who’s now on the IL) struggling, and vets like Kyle Higashioka and Jake Burger in deep funks.

As for the rotation, even with Nathan Eovaldi struggling until his gem against the Yankees on Wednesday, they’ve gotten peak Jacob deGrom and a strong start from young Kumar Rocker to steady an inconsistent starting group. Jack Leiter’s been up and down, as has offseason trade acquisition MacKenzie Gore, but there’s great upside with this group.

Texas has the best bullpen in baseball (2.82 ERA), and we saw that with how the Yanks struggled to get insurance runs late. Jalen Beeks, Jakob Junis, Tyler Alexander, and Jacob Latz all have ERAs under 2.10 while being used in at least 13 games. They don’t rank very well in strikeout or ground-ball rate, and the staff’s FIP is over a full run higher, so things might change in this regard soon, but it’s been their biggest strength early on.

Last Place (tie): Los Angeles Angels (12-20)

Top Position Player: Mike Trout (1.5 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: José Soriano (1.2 fWAR)

The Angels haven’t been very good, but that’s not all too surprising. Despite how dynamic they looked against the Yankees in the four-game split, they’ve been the usual mediocre team around that.

It’s the Mike Trout Show on offense, as the future Hall of Famer is proving that his sensational series at Yankee Stadium wasn’t a one-off, posting an even 1.000 OPS through 31 games. Behind him, the two most valuable players are Zach Neto and… Oswald Peraza? He’s still hitting well after his Revenge Series? Even with a good offense to start, the likes of Josh Lowe, Logan O’Hoppe, and Nolan Schanuel are in the dumps. At least Jorge Soler is back from his suspension.

On the pitching side, José Soriano has arguably been the best pitcher in the American League, as even his so-so start against the White Sox couldn’t raise his ERA above one. Jack Kochanowicz and Reid Detmers are pitching decently, but the highest-paid pitcher in the rotation (Yusei Kikuchi) has been ineffective and is now injured.

The bullpen has been an absolute travesty, ranking 29th in ERA. Their closer to start the year, Jordan Romano, fell apart in the four-game series in the Bronx and has since been released. Chase Silseth is by far the most effective reliever they have, as most of their high-leverage arms have gone up in absolute flames to start the season.

Last Place (tie): Houston Astros (12-20)

Top Position Player: Yordan Alvarez (2.2 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Hunter Brown/Peter Lambert (0.5 fWAR)

This is another team the Yanks have already seen this year, which reminds me that 16 of the team’s 31 games this year have been against this particular division. Only 15 of the final 131 are, so hope you enjoyed these teams while they lasted. The mediocrity of the AL West has allowed the Astros to start slowly once again, while not getting completely buried at only four games back of the first-place A’s. This happens every single year, and while Houston came up short last year, they won’t have as big a hill to climb if this division doesn’t shape up.

Their offense is one of the best in the sport and is keeping them in every game. Yordan Alvarez is finally healthy and showing why he’s one of the best pure hitters in baseball, looking like Aaron Judge’s biggest early competition for AL MVP. Christian Walker’s bat is back from the dead, Christian Vazquez has been great in a small sample, and even guys like Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, and Isaac Paredes have been adequate despite not hitting to their best capabilities.

Hunter Brown made two very good starts and then went on the shelf in the first week of April, yet he still shares a lead in fWAR on this abhorrent pitching staff. The other guy is 29-year-old Peter Lambert, who was previously released in spring training and has thrown 15.1 innings. Multiple starters are on the shelf, including Tatsyua Imai, whose transition to America has been nightmarish so far. Spencer Arrighetti (2.00 ERA) has been their best starter since he was recalled, as veterans like Lance McCullers Jr. and Mike Burrows have ERAs over six. And yet, this would at least be passable if…

… the bullpen wasn’t a complete and utter disaster. They have, by far, the worst bullpen in baseball, and aside from Steven Okert and Kai-Wei Teng, they’ve all been bad. Closer Josh Hader hasn’t thrown a single pitch, batting biceps tendinitis. Bryan Abreu has an ERA just under 13, AJ Blubaugh, Enyel De Los Santos, and Ryan Weiss are struggling, and even fill-ins like Colton Gordon and Roddery Muñoz can’t consistently get outs. A turnaround is impossible with a bullpen this bad.