LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw will make his first rehab start of the season for Triple-A Oklahoma City.
The 37-year-old left-hander has been on the 60-day injured list while rehabbing from offseason surgeries on his toe and knee. He’s eligible to come off the IL in mid-May.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner has been dealing with a variety of health issues in recent years and hasn’t thrown more than 132 innings in a season since 2019.
He pitched 30 innings last year after starting 2024 on the IL while recovering from shoulder surgery. His season ended early with the toe and knee injuries that kept him out of the rotation during the Dodgers’ run to a World Series championship.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — From the moment they heard their names called out by Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, Paul Skenes and Henry Davis were destined to make history.
When it finally happened on Monday night in Pittsburgh’s 10-3 win over Washington, the first battery comprised of players taken with the top overall pick in the draft just kind of shrugged.
“All records are meant to be broken, right?” Skenes said. “It’s cool.”
And also overdue.
While Skenes, selected first overall in 2023, has been a sensation from the moment he stepped onto the mound at PNC Park for the first time 11 months ago, Davis, the top pick in 2021, remains very much a work in progress.
It’s telling of the wildly different trajectories of their respective careers that the history Skenes and Davis made in front of just over 10,000 fans on a windy spring night was unintentional.
Davis, recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis over the weekend after starting catcher Joey Bart experienced back issues, wasn’t in the initial lineup and only entered the game after Endy Rodriguez sustained a cut on his right index finger just two batters into the top of the first.
Enter Davis, who quickly trotted onto the field, slipped a mask over his head and took a glimpse at the wristband that detailed Skenes’ game plan. It was hardly the first time Davis had caught Skenes, just the first time that it truly mattered.
There appeared to be few hiccups between them. Skenes navigated six innings with relative ease, six days removed from the shakiest start of his still-young career. Mixing and matching a half-dozen pitches, Skenes retired 15 of 16 at one point, including a pair of groundouts against Nationals outfielder Dylan Crews that gave Skenes short-term bragging rights over his former LSU teammate.
Skenes made it a point to credit Davis, whose slow defensive development at one of the game’s most demanding positions has been one of the main reasons why he has spent most of the last two years bouncing between the majors and the minors.
“(Henry) can call a game,” Skenes said after improving to 2-1. “He was prepared. It’s not a surprise. I’ve been with him for the better part of two years now. You want to see why he’s the type of player he is, you don’t have to look very far. For him to come into a tough situation, call the game and catch as well as he did says a lot about it.”
Preparation is never the issue with Davis, who tends to bury himself in his work. Yet that work has not led to results. Davis entered Monday hitting just .188 in 101 games, and his inability to establish himself as an everyday player nearly four years after being drafted is symbolic of a franchise, that for all of its considerable young pitching talent, has been unable to identify and develop position players.
Pittsburgh’s lineup against Washington’s Brad Lord consisted of just three players who the club drafted or signed and then nurtured to the big leagues. And two of them — Andrew McCutchen and Adam Frazier — are on their second tour with the club after spending a portion of their careers elsewhere.
Skenes was paying Davis a compliment when he said most of Davis’ teammates don’t consider him a “1-1,” baseball code for going first overall. Skenes meant that the quiet way Davis carries himself runs in stark contrast to his draft profile.
As if to almost prove the point, while Skenes talked, he wore a suit and addressed a dozen reporters, answering questions on everything from the black-and-gold necklaces McCutchen gifted to the team to the way he channeled his girlfriend — LSU gymnast/influencer Livvy Dunne — while somersaulting to avoid a collision with Washington’s Nasim Nunez at third base.
About 20 minutes after Skenes left the clubhouse, Davis emerged in a casual grey long-sleeved shirt and green pants, the necklace from McCutchen still in place after one of the better days of his professional career.
He spoke politely in short, measured sentences. Wearing the necklace as “fun.” Being at the ready is something every catcher who’s not in the lineup does. Monday night just happened to be his turn.
“So just being ready to jump in and know what (Skenes) wanted to do and be on his page pretty quickly, that was the goal,” Davis said.
Davis cleared that goal. Now comes another far more important one: take the opening that the injuries to Bart and Rodriguez have created and run with it.
The Pirates are scuffling. Fan unrest and highly visible missteps by the organization off the field have bubbled up in lockstep with a less-than-stellar product on it, creating an environment where it feels like general manager Ben Cherington and manager Derek Shelton — both in year six — are on the clock.
Pittsburgh bet big on Davis. That bet has not paid off yet. No one is more aware of that than the soft-spoken catcher who is now linked with Skenes in a far more real way than the number next to their name in the draft.
“It was cool to get the opportunity,” Davis said. “Glad we got a win. It’s great.”
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When asked to name the Boston Red Sox’ biggest strength heading into the 2025 MLB season, NBC Sports Boston’s three-person panel unanimously mentioned the offense, pointing to the addition of Alex Bregman and an influx of young talent like Kristian Campbell and (potentially) Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer.
Through 18 games, however, offense has been one of Boston’s biggest weaknesses. The Red Sox are averaging a pedestrian 4.3 runs per game (14th in MLB), and that’s includinga 13-run outburst against the St. Louis Cardinals in their home opener and an 18-run effort in the series finale.
Those two games alone have accounted for 39.7 percent of Boston’s total runs this season (31 of 78), and they’re averaging a putrid 2.9 runs per game over their other 16 contests.
The Red Sox’ bats have been especially dormant of late: They’ve scored a total of 15 runs in their last eight games, marking just the second time in the last nine seasons they’ve scored 15 or fewer runs in an eight-game span.
Yes, it’s a small sample size. But the numbers above are still cause for alarm, especially for a team that was expected to compete for the postseason yet is floundering at 8-10 after a 16-1 walloping at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.
So, what’s causing Boston’s struggles at the plate? Here are three statistical trends worth monitoring:
Strikeouts galore
Strikeouts are the team’s biggest issue by far — and it’s not a new issue.
The Red Sox lead all of baseball with 179 strikeouts through 18 games after ranking third in MLB with 1,570 whiffs last season. Rafael Devers has been the primary culprit — his 27 strikeouts lead the American League — but he’s certainly not alone.
Red Sox players account for five of the AL’s top 15 players in strikeouts this season, with Trevor Story (22 strikeouts), Jarren Duran (20 strikeouts), Triston Casas and Alex Bregman (18 Ks apiece) rounding out the list.
Poor plate discipline
A peek at some advanced numbers reveals another issue for the strikeout-happy Red Sox: They’re chasing a lot of bad pitches.
Boston has the eighth-highest chase percentage in baseball (29.5 percent) and is tied for the fifth-highest whiff percentage (27.5 percent), per Baseball Savant. Alex Cora’s club makes contact on just 49.2 percent of pitches it chases, the third-worst mark in MLB.
Interestingly enough, the Red Sox rank fourth in baseball in walks to date (65), suggesting a somewhat patient approach at the plate. But when they do swing at pitches outside the zone, the results have (mostly) been ugly.
The first two issues feed into this issue, but Boston simply hasn’t been able to bring runners home this season.
The Red Sox have left an average of 7.4 runners on base per game, second-most in the AL and fifth-most in MLB. They’re hitting just .233 with runners in scoring position with a league-leading 55 strikeouts in those situations.
They’ve also been especially bad in close games, batting .190 with an MLB-leading 27 strikeouts in “Late/Close” situations (seventh inning or later and the score within one run).
Of course, there’s plenty of time for the Red Sox to snap out of their early-season slump. But in a competitive AL East, they can’t afford to have quiet bats much longer.
April 15 will forever be a special day for baseball.
On this day 78 years ago, Jackie Robinson made his MLB debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers and broke the sport’s color barrier. Twenty-eight years ago, commissioner Bud Selig announced that Robinson’s No. 42 would be retired across the league.
On Tuesday, however, Robinson’s number will once again be on the back of every player.
Jackie Robinson Day was first held on April 15, 2004. Five years later, a new tradition was born when every player, manager and coach began wearing No. 42 for the celebration.
That custom will continue on Tuesday, with all organizations are sporting No. 42 in Dodger blue regardless of their regular uniform colors. Players, managers, coaches and umpires will also wear a “42” patch on the side of their hats.
All 30 MLB teams will be in action on Tuesday, with Robinson’s Dodgers hosting the Colorado Rockies in Los Angeles.
MLB is also planning a league-wide pregame tribute video produced by MLB Network and featuring former pro softball player AJ Andrews.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and Robinson’s widow, Rachel Robinson, will be at the Jackie Robinson Museum in New York to welcome participants from local Nike Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities programs.
Down in Florida, MLB’s Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach will host a minor league game between the Clearwater Threshers and the Palm Beach Cardinals at historic Holman Stadium, where Robinson once played. The game will raise money to support vital programs and services in Indian River County.
April 15 will forever be a special day for baseball.
On this day 78 years ago, Jackie Robinson made his MLB debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers and broke the sport’s color barrier. Twenty-eight years ago, commissioner Bud Selig announced that Robinson’s No. 42 would be retired across the league.
On Tuesday, however, Robinson’s number will once again be on the back of every player.
Jackie Robinson Day was first held on April 15, 2004. Five years later, a new tradition was born when every player, manager and coach began wearing No. 42 for the celebration.
That custom will continue on Tuesday, with all organizations are sporting No. 42 in Dodger blue regardless of their regular uniform colors. Players, managers, coaches and umpires will also wear a “42” patch on the side of their hats.
All 30 MLB teams will be in action on Tuesday, with Robinson’s Dodgers hosting the Colorado Rockies in Los Angeles.
MLB is also planning a league-wide pregame tribute video produced by MLB Network and featuring former pro softball player AJ Andrews.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and Robinson’s widow, Rachel Robinson, will be at the Jackie Robinson Museum in New York to welcome participants from local Nike Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities programs.
Down in Florida, MLB’s Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach will host a minor league game between the Clearwater Threshers and the Palm Beach Cardinals at historic Holman Stadium, where Robinson once played. The game will raise money to support vital programs and services in Indian River County.
Mookie Betts, right, celebrates with Freddie Freeman after hitting a two-run home run in the first inning of a 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on Monday night. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers finally solved their recent offensive woes on Monday.
And the answer, it turned out, wasn’t much of a mystery.
Sure, manager Dave Roberts noted in his pregame media address, the Dodgers needed to be more selective at the plate, coming off a 3-6 skid over the last two weeks in which they’d hit .218 as a team and averaged barely three runs per game.
“When you’re swinging and trying to cover every pitch, all parts of the zone, that’s tough to do in the big leagues,” Roberts said. “I think having an idea of where you want to hunt is a good start for us.”
During afternoon batting practice, the Dodgers’ hitting coaches changed up the routine, too, having batters take swings off a high-velocity pitching machine — rather than soft tosses from members of the staff — in hopes of improving the offense’s mediocre production against fastballs.
“We always prioritize hitting velocity, and that’s something we haven’t done great,” hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc said. “So, thought it was a good day to do it.”
But the biggest difference on Monday, in the Dodgers’ 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies, was to the lineup itself.
Dodgers pitcher Dustin May celebrates after striking out Colorado's Michael Togliato end the fourth inning Monday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
And, for arguably the first time this season, the Dodgers’ Big 3 looked like their terrifying, thunderous selves — setting the tone, leading the way and quieting questions about the recently sluggish offense by keying a season-high 10-hit performance from the team.
“Those guys, they're perennial All-Stars for a reason,” Roberts said. “And having them do what they do is certainly helpful.”
On Monday, the Dodgers (12-6) were reminded of that from the very start.
Betts hit a two-run home run in the top of the first, after Ohtani led the game off with a single. Ohtani went yard himself in the third inning, collecting his fifth long ball of the season on a no-doubt blast to center. Freeman tacked on two hits in a return to form following time away on the injured list.
Combined, they were seven for 14 with three RBIs and all five runs scored — a stat line that would have been bigger if two long drives from Ohtani didn’t die at the warning track on a crisp Chavez Ravine night.
“We just gotta continue to have good at-bats,” Betts said.
Those weren’t the only contributions that aided the Dodgers in their series-opening win.
Dustin May continued his strong return to health with a six-inning, one-run, seven-strikeout gem against the Rockies (3-13) and a lineup that hadn’t scored in a whopping 32 innings until an RBI double from Kyle Farmer in the fifth.
“It wasn’t fun giving up the first run in five games for them,” May joked, “but it was a solid start, so can’t complain.”
Will Smith, who was batting fourth with Teoscar Hernández out because of a stomach bug, also had two hits and two RBIs, improving to eight for 11 when batting with runners in scoring position.
Still, it was the three MVPs atop the Dodgers' lineup that injected life back into their scuffling offense, grinding out the kind of productive and taxing at-bats that had been missing in recent weeks.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani beats a throw to Colorado first baseman Michael Toglia for a single Monday night. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Entering Monday, Ohtani was batting just .219 over his last eight games, cooling off from his blistering start. Same story with Betts, who hit .250 with just one extra base hit over his last 10 contests.
Then there was Freeman, the iron-man first baseman who reluctantly went on the injured list after re-aggravating his surgically repaired ankle earlier this month while slipping in the shower. After a one-for-seven showing in his return this past weekend against the Chicago Cubs, he opened with a single in the first and double in the third, before later reaching on an error in the sixth that led to a key insurance run.
Betts said the trio wasn’t feeling added pressure to snap the club out of its offensive funk. He noted that “everybody feels that responsibility, just because we all can do it.”
“We all know we’ve been struggling,” Betts said. “Everybody is trying to be the guy to get us out. But I think we have to kind of go the opposite way and stop trying so hard and just kind of let it happen ... when you just let things happen, just play the game like you always do, good things tend to happen.”
Nonetheless, the game is a lot easier for the Dodgers when their superstar trio is producing.
And on Monday, it trickled down to one of the club’s better all-around offensive showings. The Dodgers struck out just three times. They drew five walks. And they constantly “created stress,” as Roberts proudly pointed out, even though they squandered the opportunity to put more crooked numbers on the board by going just two for 10 with runners in scoring position.
“We took our walks, [created] a lot of traffic, really got to the starter,” Roberts said. “[We got] back to kind of who we are.”
Postgame, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza discusses what he saw in Monday's 5-1 win over the Twins...
Acuña making his mark
The Mets haven’t received much from the bottom of the order so far this season.
But on Monday night, Luisangel Acuña stepped up and put together one of his strongest showings of the year to this point -- reaching base three times and causing havoc with his electric speed.
The youngster got things started for New York in the top of the third as he led off the inning with a walk and then proceeded to steal second before coming around to score three batters later on a Pete Alonso single.
Two innings later, he lined a double down the right-field line, but was stranded there.
Acuña then led off the top of the seventh with a perfectly-placed bunt single down the third base line -- and he came around to score one two batters later on Juan Soto’s second homer of the season.
“Every time we get contributions from the bottom of the lineup it’s important,” Mendoza said. “Today Acuña had the walk, double, he got us going with a bunt single, stole a base. There’s a lot of different ways he can help us win games.”
Acuña is now riding a four-game hitting streak.
This recent hot stretch comes at a perfect time as Jeff McNeil continues to progress through his rehab assignment and will likely take over the bulk of the playing time at second base before you know it.
But Acuña could potentially continue finding his way into the lineup in center with Jose Siri now expected to miss significant time with a fractured tibia.
Is Vientos turning the corner?
He just might be.
After roping a go-ahead RBI double into the right-center field gap in the top of the sixth, Vientos now has knocks in three straight games and he’s driven in a run with a extra base-hit on back-to-back days.
He still has a ways to go to snap this early-season skid, but Mendoza is certainly happy with what he’s seen from the 25-year-old over the past few games.
“Overall he’s been giving us really good at-bats,” he said. “The results we haven’t got any -- but it’s a good sign, especially to hit it like that. I think it was a sinker and when he’s doing that those are some good signs for him.”
Vientos returning to form would be a huge boost for this struggling offense.
Mark Vientos drives a double and Pete Alonso scores all the way from first
When the Yankees pulled Carlos Carrasco in the fifth inning of last Tuesday's loss to the Detroit Tigers, the feel-good story he produced in spring training seemed like a distant memory. Of the four runs the veteran right-hander allowed at a frigid Comerica Park, three came via solo home runs, and he watched his ERA rise to a bloated 7.71.
But the 38-year-old demonstrated on Monday that his current spot in the starting rotation was still earned on merit, and not just given to him by neccessity. Carrasco twirled five innings of one-hit ball in the Yankees' 4-1 home win over the Kansas City Royals -- undoubtedly his most encouraging outing of the young season.
"Just moxie, man. His change was really good, had good bottom to it," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Carrasco. "He was kind of working through his breaking balls as the night went on and he executed some good ones there. But his changeup was really good. He was in and around the strike zone enough, able to get a little chase with it too... A big five innings from him."
Carrasco found himself in an early jam by walking a pair in the first inning, but it didn't take long for him to work out of trouble and gain composure. His lone mistake was a slider thrown to Royals stud Bobby Witt Jr. that landed in the left field seats for a solo homer and ended a competitive 10-pitch battle.
The bounceback performance from Carrasco included four strikeouts across five frames, and brought his ERA down to 5.94 (four starts, 16.2 innings). He's lined up to make his next start on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend, in the ballpark that brought him good fortune during spring camp.
Dominguez finding his footing
If the Yankees felt that Jasson Dominguez needed a healthy amount of fly balls sent his way in left field on Monday, the Royals were more than willing to cooperate. The rookie registered a career-high six putouts behind Carrasco, and his most impressive catch came in the fourth inning when he took extra bases away from Salvador Perez with a leaping over-the-shoulder catch.
"It was tough, but got a good jump on it. Just kept my eyes on the ball," Dominguez said after the game. "For myself, after I make that play, it feels pretty good. Because I've been working every day with [coach Luis Rojas], putting in consistent work, and it's showing off."
The highlight-reel play was undoubtedly a confidence-booster for Dominguez, and once he returned to the dugout when the inning ended, his teammates were there to praise him. The transition from center field to left field has been far from seamless -- missplays in spring training raised some fair questions and concerns -- but he's clearly more comfortable with the route running.
Dominguez was once again taken out of the game late for defensive purposes -- Cody Bellinger replaced him in the ninth -- but he undoubtedly made strides on Monday that reaffirmed the Yankees' faith in him settling into the new positiion. Boone has also noticed the growth in Dominguez's tracking that simply comes from constant reps.
"What I like is the ease in the routes and the ease that he's getting to those balls," Boone said of Dominguez. "Since the start of the season, I feel like he's grown. The right footwork, the right move to the ball. And that's when you're going to start seeing the range with his speed show up... There's no greater teacher than experience."
"He keeps getting better, but those are two really good ones"
The Yankees entered Monday with just three homers in their previous seven games, and Royals starter Seth Lugo arrived in the Bronx with only two long balls allowed to them across 14 career meetings. So, naturally, New York's power stroke returned with a vengeance and defied some history.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. delivered the first of four homers off of Lugo in the fourth, and then in the fifth, Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, and Austin Wells took the veteran righty deep into the right field seats, pushing the Yankees' lead to 4-1. There wasn't a need for further offense -- the lefty long-ball quartet did the trick.
It was the first time that the Yankees scored four-plus runs all on solo homers since 2019, and their league-high mark in homers reached 32. Boone was pleased with the competitive at-bats against Lugo, and Chisholm mentioned the return of some warmer April weather as the remedy to some cold bats.
"[Lugo] throws a lot of strikes, so we just had to go out there and attack him the way he attacks us," Chisholm told the YES Network after the game. "It was exciting. We're just happy to be out here with some good weather, playing baseball and having fun again. It was hard the last couple days, playing in the cold. But we're here and ready for it to warm up so we can warm up."
The big right-hander took the mound in the Mets' series-opening win over the Twins on Monday, putting together his strongest outing of the season to this point with eight strikeouts across five innings of one-run, two-hit ball.
“He was pretty nasty today,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
As was the case during his last outing against the Marlins, Holmes was in control from the get-go, as he retired all but one batter while striking out six in his first time through the order.
Things weren’t as easy from there, but he still did well to limit the damage.
Matt Wallner was the second baserunner to reach against Holmes on Monday when he laced a two-out triple off the right field wall, but a Carlos Correa lineout helped Holmes quickly dance out of danger.
He lost command of the strike zone a bit in the fifth, as two walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases with nobody out. But he was once again able to bear down and escape the threat with just one run allowed on a sacrifice fly.
Holmes finished the outing with his third strikeout of star outfielder Byron Buxton.
“He was really, really good,” Mendoza said of Holmes. “Even when he lost it, he kept making pitches. He kept finding a way to get back and limited the damage. He gave us a chance and then he ended up getting the win.”
While Holmes hasn’t been working deep into games early in his transition to the rotation, he has been very effective, pitching to a 3.66 ERA through four starts while recording six or more strikeouts in each of his last three.
And yet again on Monday, the Mets' bullpen did their job stepping up behind him. Huascar Brazoban put together two hitless innings, Reed Garrett struck out two in a scoreless eighth, and Ryne Stanek closed out the ninth.
With the offense still not clicking at 100 percent, the pitching continues to lead the way.
“They’ve been doing a really good job,” Juan Soto said. “The bullpen has been great and our starters have been setting the table for the bullpen. So I think we are in good shape right now.”
Mets outfielder Jose Siri will indeed land on the injured list after an additional MRI on Monday revealed that he has suffered a fractured tibia.
Siri has been in significant pain over the past few days since suffering a left shin contusion on a foul ball during his at-bat in the second inning of Saturday’s game against the Athletics.
The Mets don't know exactly how much time he will miss, but Carlos Mendoza said it will be "a while."
The Mets opened the series with a 5-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night at Target Field.
Here are some takeaways...
- Clay Holmes was a punchout machine during his last outing against the Marlins, and he picked up right where he left off to open this one. The big right-hander was on cruise control his first time through the order, striking out six while allowing just one hit over three efficient innings.
Holmes ran into some trouble in the fourth, as Matt Wallner crushed a two-out triple off the right field wall, but he was able to get Carlos Correa to line out to end the inning. Things spiraled on him a bit in the fifth, as two walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, but he settled down nicely and escaped with just one run allowed on a sacrifice fly.
Holmes finished his night with just that one run against on two hits, while walking two and striking out eight in five strong innings. While he isn't working deep into games just yet, he has now punched out six or more batters in each of his last three starts and has a 3.66 ERA on the year.
- Pete Alonso has been in the middle of everything early for the Mets, and he got the scoring started in this one. The big man drove in Luisangel Acuña with a two-out single in the top of the third to make it a 1-0 game, and he now sits second in the National League with 19 RBI. He's also hitting .450 (9-for-20) with RISP on the season.
Alonso went on to reached base in four of his five plate appearances, giving him a .345 average and 1.137 OPS.
- Acuña enjoyed a strong day at the plate as well, reaching base three times with a walk, double, and a bunt hit. With Jeff McNeil working his way back from an oblique injury, the young infielder has been heating up, as he's now riding a four-game hitting streak.
- Mark Vientos is finally starting to come out of his slump to start the season. He drove in Alonso with a double in the top of the sixth, giving him a run-scoring extra base-hit in back-to-back games. He scored a few pitches later when Luis Torrens reached on an error.
- Juan Soto had also been stuck in a bit of a rut at the plate -- until his fourth at-bat of the night, when he crushed a two-run homer to deep right-center. It was his second homer of the season, first hit with a runner in scoring position on the year, and first extra base-hit since April 7.
- The Mets' bullpen continues getting the job behind their starters. Huascar Brazoban put together two hitless innings of work, Reed Garrett struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 eighth, and Ryne Stanek put the finishing touches on the victory in the ninth.
- New York picked up their second straight win, but still finished an ugly 2-for-12 with RISP.
Game MVP: Clay Holmes
Holmes could've easily let things get out of control in the fifth, but he settled in and limited the damage.
The Yankees enjoyed some warmer April weather on Monday night, as they crushed four homers and held the Kansas City Royals to only two hits in a 4-1 win at Yankee Stadium.
Here are the takeaways...
-- The Yankees entered Monday with a league-worst rotation ERA of 5.40, but Carlos Carrasco managed to bring that bloated mark down. After flirting with trouble in the first inning by allowing a pair of walks, the veteran starter quickly settled down and went on to complete five frames of one-run ball. His lone mistake was a solo home run to superstar Bobby Witt Jr. that placed the Royals up 1-0 in the third. Call it a huge rebound outing from Carrasco, who struck out four (79 pitches) and lowered his ERA to 5.94 through four starts.
-- Royals starter Seth Lugo arrived in the Bronx with an established history of keeping Yankees' fly balls in the ballpark, but the numbers didn't mean anything to those tasked with facing him. In the fourth, he served up a game-tying solo homer to Jazz Chisholm Jr. that landed in New York's bullpen. Then, in the fifth, a trio of lefties -- Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, and Austin Wells -- took Lugo deep into the right field seats to push the Yankees' lead to 4-1. In his pervious 14 games against the Yankees, Lugo had allowed just two homers.
-- New York relied on its bullpen to record 12 outs, and the trusted group of relievers matched Carrasco's production. Fernando Cruz took the mound for the sixth inning, striking out three of the four batters he faced. Tim Hill then entered, inducing a groundout and strikeout. Luke Weaver earned his fifth hold of the season with a scoreless eighth, and closer Devin Williams overcame more control issues by shutting down a brief Royals rally in the ninth. Kansas City was held to just two hits.
-- Perhaps some concerns about Jasson Dominguez's progress in left field were reduced, as the rookie logged a career-high six putouts. His highlight-reel catch came in the fourth, when he robbed Salvador Perez of extra bases with a leaping over-the-shoulder grab near the left field warning track. Dominguez entered Monday with 13 season putouts.
-- Cody Bellinger, who was left out of the lineup due to lingering back dicomfort, entered as a pinch-hitter in the eighth and struck out with Paul Goldschmidt on second base. He then replaced Dominguez in left during the ninth. Aaron Judge went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and strikeouts, hours after being named captain of Team USA for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Game MVP: Carlos Carrasco
The 38-year-old's previous outing against the Detroit Tigers was discouraging, as he allowed four runs on six hits in 4.1 innings and made a feel-good spring training story seem even more fluky. But the Yankees received a valuable bounce-back outing from him on Monday.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza provided a number of injury updated prior to Monday's game in Minnesota...
Ronny Mauricio
It's been a long road to recovery for Ronny Mauricio, but he's set to take a big step this week.
The young infielder will be back in game action for the first time on Tuesday afternoon, as he slots in as the designated hitter in the Florida Complex League at extended spring training.
Mauricio was initially sidelined due to a torn ACL he suffered while playing in Winter Ball last offseason, and while working his way back, he was forced to undergo a second procedure to remove scar tissue. Shortly after, he dealt with inflammation that stalled his recovery.
Since then, it's been smooth sailing for the 24-year-old. The Mets opted to not rush him back into action during spring training, but now he appears ready to take the next step.
"The fact that he's now in game action is certainly a good sign," Mendoza said. "We just want him to get at-bats in extended -- hopefully we'll get him some reps in the field and we'll see how it goes from there."
Jeff McNeil
McNeil has been feeling good over the first few days of his rehab assignment.
The slap-hitting infielder played a pair of games with Single-A St. Lucie late last week and looked strong at the plate and in the field, going 2-for-5 while also drawing a walk and scoring a run.
He has Monday off and will return to action tomorrow night with St. Lucie.
From there, McNeil will go to Triple-A Syracuse as he continues working his way back to the big league club. But Mendoza says he still has to get more at-bats before they are ready for him to return as their primary second baseman.
"He's feeling good but those are tricky injuries, with the oblique," he said.
With both Luisangel Acuña and Brett Baty struggling at the plate early on this season, getting McNeil back into the mix would certainly be a nice boost on both sides of the ball.
New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (4) hits a single against the Washington Nationals during the fifth inning at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches / Sam Navarro - Imagn Images
Francisco Alvarez
Alvarez was supposed to take his rehab assignment to Triple-A this week, but instead he'll be heading to Double-A because of weather.
He's expected to join the Rumble Ponies in Reading to take on the Fightin Phils on Tuesday.
The young backstop is a bit ahead of McNeil in his road back, as he started his assignment a few days earlier, but he still has a few steps to take before rejoining the majors.
While it's more so about getting the reps than anything else, Alvarez had just one hit in 10 at-bats with St. Lucie.
It'll be interesting to see how the Mets handle the playing time when he returns, with backup Luis Torrens shining with the bat and behind the plate in his absence.
Paul Blackburn
Blackburn is scheduled to throw two-ups in live batting practice on Tuesday, and if everything goes as planned, he could begin a rehab assignment after that.
Mendoza said that the team is planning on building him back up as a starter, rather than using him as a reliever -- they indicated this toward the end of spring training. The goal is to get the veteran right-hander around 70-75 pitches.
With their busy schedule ahead, the Mets are planning on inserting a sixth starter into the rotation as early as this weekend against the Cardinals.
