Category: Baseball

Today and tomorrow could be called the true start of the minor leagues. Yes, yes, I know the Memphis Redbirds’ season has already been underway for a week. But later today, the Palm Beach Cardinals have their first game of the season and tomorrow sees the first game for both Peoria and Springfield. I am not sure why Palm Beach is a day early. From Friday onwards, for most days of the year for the next five months and change, there will be an additional four games within the Cardinal organization to follow. If you want. It’s a lot.

So because of that (and because I didn’t really want to transcribe interviews right now!), I thought it would be a fun idea to have a sort of minor league preview. At its most basic intent, here are names worth following throughout the season, some of whom we may see in the major leagues later this season and a lot of whom we may never see in the majors period. I have tried to separate the players according to how much of a sicko you are, and don’t worry, we’re all sickos when it comes to baseball.

Memphis

Watch if they’re starting

There are four healthy pitchers who fit here and even within those four, they fit into two separate categories. The first category is MLB ready now, more or less. It would not be in the least bit surprising if they had entered the MLB rotation by the end of May, by whatever circumstances led them there.

Hunter Dobbins (4.13 ERA/3.87 FIP/4.11 xFIP)

Richard Fitts (3.97 ERA/5.02 FIP/4.66 xFIP)

Quinn Mathews (#4 VEB prospect)

Dobbins and Fitts already have experience in the majors leagues. Their MLB stats are in parentheses. Dobbins is technically on the MLB injured list and made his first rehab appearance on Tuesday (it went okay). Fitts has made 15 appearances in two separate seasons. He is making his second start today actually! So check that one out. And Mathews, who made 22 starts at the AAA level and is trying to conquer his control issues. He walked four in the first inning yesterday, so he’s not quite there yet.

If one of the categories has three pitchers who are clearly the plan to step in for a doubleheader or because of an injury, you can probably guess the other category is “maybe after the deadline.” Unless things perfectly line up. Brycen Mautz (#13 VEB prospect) is on the 40 man roster, which helps a lot, but he’s kind of fourth on the depth chart right now. If we have a surprise doubleheader and he’s the pitcher who lines up, he’ll probably get a start, but that’s about it for now.

Guys to pay attention to eventually are Ixan Henderson (#16 VEB prospect), on the 60 day injured list, Pete Hansen, mysteriously injured, Cooper Hjerpe (#15 VEB prospect) and Sem Robberse, both recovering from Tommy John. You’ll have ample warning on all of these guys who will throw rehab appearances at a lower level before they pitch in Memphis.

Stop what you’re doing to watch them bat

If you follow the minor leagues like I follow the minor leagues, you mostly ignore the game. That is until a player you’re really interested in steps up to the plate. Might as well not even have the game on if you miss these players. Truly.

OF Joshua Baez (VEB #6 prospect)

C Jimmy Crooks (VEB #8 prospect)

C Leonardo Bernal (VEB #7 prospect)

Yes, the Cardinals have two top ten catching prospects in Memphis right now. We will see Jimmy Crooks soon enough if he keeps playing the way he’s playing. Bernal just got to Memphis, so I’d expect a longer wait. Both of them are potentially starting caliber catchers and how they do offensively in Memphis is actually very relevant because defense won’t be the issue with either. Obviously, what they do in St. Louis is ultimately what matters but if they hit well enough in Memphis, we can probably expect them to hit in St. Louis too!

And Baez is certainly in potential star territory. But he’s only flashed that for one season. How he does in Memphis is directly relevant to the future of the Cardinals. He hasn’t come out guns blazing, but he also isn’t striking out a bunch again. He picked up his first walk and first extra base hit yesterday, and only has three strikeouts in his first 19 plate appearances.

Prospect sicko

Blaze Jordan

Colton Ledbetter

Nelson Velazquez

Tink Hence (VEB #10 prospect)

Velazquez isn’t a prospect, but he fits this category. He has yet to get a hit yet. Four games played, not a single hit yet. Seven strikeouts though. The outrage over him not making the team is not going to age well I suspect. Ledbetter, well, he went 0 for 5 with five strikeouts yesterday so he’s had better days. Jordan is off to a…. blazing hot start. These three made the list because they are probable role players if things work out but they have just enough potential to maybe be more. Hence is currently in the bullpen and he’s worth monitoring for sure, but he’s a little less interesting than when he had a guaranteed start.

Get Some Help

Luis Gastelum

Packy Naughton

Skyler Hales

If you’re watching Memphis Redbirds games to watch relief pitchers who are not on the 40 man roster, you’re in the wrong spot. Clearly you do not need a casual’s guide to the minor leagues. I like all three of these guys, I am not watching Memphis Redbird games to watch them pitch however. I will stick to looking at stats and watching them when they get promoted.

Springfield

Watch if they’re starting

Liam Doyle (VEB #2 prospect)

Jurrangelo Cjintje (VEB #5 prospect)

These are nationally relevant pitching prospects, so while I have more names to give you, it feels like they should be singled out. These are the kinds of pitching prospects that national folks will watch though, not just dedicated Cardinals fans. I like Dobbins, I like Fitts, I like Mathews, but if you just want to wait for them to make MLB starts, that makes sense. These two you want to go out of your way to watch.

Also special shot-out to #9 VEB prospect Brandon Clarke, who is out until June, and I’m putting him in the Springfield section, but he could very well be in the Peoria section. But he won’t be seen for a good while for now.

Chen-Wei Lin

Braden Davis

Mason Molina

Hancel Rincon

Rincon, Lin and Davis are top 20 prospects somewhere – Rincon is by Fangraphs, Davis is by The Cardinal Nation, and Lin is by both sites. Molina isn’t quite there, but he might be the most interesting arm the Cardinals received at the deadline, and for Phil Maton no less. At the very least, he’s interesting just to see if that deadline bears fruit. Also besides Rincon, all of these guys had an argument to starting in Peoria, so it’s a good sign that the Cardinals are putting them in Springfield.

Stop what you are doing to watch them bat

Deniel Ortiz (VEB #18 prospect)

Yeah that’s kind of it. Ortiz isn’t really that kind of prospect either, but with the way he hit the ball last year, he could be soon enough. If anyone is going to follow in the footsteps of the previous 13th rounders who shall not be named, it’s this guy. Who just destroyed baseballs and is getting a rather aggressive promotion to Springfield might I add!

Prospect Sickos

Zach Levenson

Chase Davis

Travis Honeyman

In other words, the Springfield outfield. Davis is a former 1st round pick, Honeyman has rarely been healthy, and Levenson neglected to hit for a year. Not appointment viewing, but one of these guys will probably make the majors leagues at least.

Get some help

Jeremy Rivas

Michael Watson

Austin Love

Rivas is an all-defense, no hit shortstop. He got to Springfield rather fast, but he’s been stuck there trying to gain some much needed power. Watson and Love are relievers who honestly could be in St. Louis later this year.

Peoria

Watch if they’re starting

Tanner Franklin (VEB #12 prospect)

Yhoiker Fajardo (VEB #19 prospect)

I’m not automatically listing top 20 prospects in this section, but you best believe I was going to list Fajardo considering he landed on my top 10. Fajardo is a teenager and will be a teenager all season and he’s already in High A. Franklin goes without saying. He has the stuff to start, he just hasn’t actually thrown more than a couple innings per appearance to prove it. Both players have one thing in common: they may be way higher on next year’s list if they have a great season. Both are the “see them before they were big prospects” hipster picks.

Stop what you’re doing to watch them bat

Rainiel Rodriguez (VEB #3 prospect)

I’m taking my description of this category quite literally. So apologies to Jesus Baez, who I believe in, but I’m not going to stop what I’m doing to watch him. So very into prospects Cubs fan will stop what they are doing to watch Raniel Rodriguez bat, that’s how big of a deal he is. Watching Rainiel Rodriguez bat is why you get MiLB, or in my case, happen to have T-Mobile (you guys want to throw me a few bucks for the free publicity?)

Prospect Sickos

Jesus Baez

Won-Bin Cho

Tai Peete

Blake Aita

Nate Dohm

For the record, Frank Ellisalt would be here, but he also appears to be injured. And good note in general: if there’s a name that I don’t mention and you’re confused as to why, they probably are injured, because I am using the official press release of the rosters through the minor league teams Twitter accounts. I think Baez is closer to stop what you’re doing than being a prospect sicko, but you guys did not rank him in the top 20, so clearly you don’t agree with me.

Peete and Cho, at least in theory, have actual upside. They could always find themselves on a stronger level, and being a few levels away from the majors and quite young, they do have time. I find Aita interesting because he was in the Willson Contreras trade and I find Nate Dohm interesting because he was in the Ryan Helsley trade. And so was Jesus Baez actually.

Get some help

Zack Showalter

Jack Findlay

Josh Kross

Yes, Showalter appears to be healthy right now. He is listed on the active Peoria Chiefs roster. He has landed on a top 20 VEB list before and he’s only 22. He threw 31 innings last season, so I imagine they’d be pretty happy if he could throw 50-60 innings. But it’ll probably be in the bullpen. Findlay was one of those draft picks selected when he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Last year, he spent most of the year struggling, but finished extremely strong and dominated at this level to finish his season. I’ll be curious if they’ll transition him at starter at all. Kross was the catcher/DH prospect who exploded in Palm Beach with a bunch of homers, but he didn’t hit so much at Peoria.

Palm Beach

Watch if they’re starting

Cade Crossland

They seemed to have promoted a lot of the interesting pitchers, and both Andrew Dutkanych and Payton Graham are injured. Graham is expectedly injured, he was drafted injured as is becoming a bit of a tradition. Dutkanych not so much. That was an unfortunate development. Anyway, Crossland is probably the favorite of the recent draft to become Braden Davis or more optimistically Quinn Mathews, the college pitching prospect who has very little trouble missing bats. I also don’t know what happened to Brian Holiday, he’s not listed on the official Palm Beach website (their twitter account did not post a roster)

Stop what you’re doing to watch them bat

Yairo Padilla (VEB #17 prospect)

Ryan Mitchell (VEB #20 prospect)

While we were running the voting for the top 20 prospects as judged by the VEB readers, I made it a point many times to note that I wish I knew where Mitchell was being posted because it would impact where I put him. Well, he got put in full season ball immediately. No messing around with rookie ball. That is a fantastic sign. He’s definitely worth watching. Padilla is still, for the most part, all potential, but wouldn’t you want to be watching when he realizes that? When suddenly he has power. Again I won’t automatically put a top 20 guy here, but I will if I feel they may become one of the big prospects in the system before they reach the majors. These two absolutely qualify.

Prospect Sickos

Ty Van Dyke

Jack Gurevitch

Gurevitch was once upon a time ranked 15th by Fangraphs in their system. Then he played games and they dropped him down to 48 this past year. Which… I think is dumb, like things didn’t change that much. He might still become an actual prospect. Van Dyke got off to a great start, being one of the few pitchers to pitch after his draft year. He’ll get a chance to build off that.

Get some help

Jonathan Mejia

Jack Martinez

Jacob Odle

Martinez is noteworthy just because it’d be funny if the return for Nolan Arenado became something. So I’ll be following his progress for that reason alone. Odle’s 2025 was him returning from injury and he had a classic return from injury season, with a bunch of walks, but he also missed a lot of bats. He’s intriguing. Mejia didn’t have a very good 2025, but he doesn’t turn 21 for another 10 days, which sounds absurd for how long I’ve known of his existence.

Fans have been wondering where Royals color commentator Rex Hudler is, he will be back, but maybe not as much as you would’ve hoped.

For the most part, the reviews for Major League Baseball’s production of Royals games have been positive. It’s a small sample size (three games), but the picture seems clearer, the graphics are sharper and even the commercials are a vast improvement. The Royals also made changes to their broadcast team. Bridget Howard is a new sideline reporter, and Eric Hosmer is one of the analysts who will be working with play-by-play broadcaster Ryan Lefebvre. Although the Royals never announced it, Hosmer, Jeremy Guthrie and Rex Hudler will each work roughly one-third of the broadcasts this season, with Jeff Montgomery filling that role at some points, too.

In case you missed it, Carlos Estevez is officially on the IL, Steven Cruz has been called up to fill his spot.

If you went to bed after the Royals got up 12-1 last night, the game got interesting, but Anne Rogers talked about how the bottom of the Royals order dominated.

Manager Matt Quatraro likes to say he’ll take the production wherever it comes in the lineup, and he’s not wrong about that. But Wednesday’s offense was fueled not by the star hitters, but by the bottom of the lineup — and the Royals will definitely take that.

The Nos. 6-9 hitters went 10-for-16 and drove in eight runs, including Jonathan India’s grand slam in the sixth inning and Kyle Isbel’s solo shot in the seventh.

But it’s what happened early that stood out. Jac Caglianone, hitting seventh, got it started in the second inning by hitting a two-out double. No. 8 hitter Isaac Collins followed with an RBI double, and Isbel, the No. 9 hitter, kept it going with an RBI single. Isbel then stole second, allowing him to score on Maikel Garcia’s single as the lineup turned over.

Kevin O’Brien of Royals Keep wrote about early takeaways of the Royals offense.

Michael Massey played in Omaha yesterday and had a solid day.

Michael Massey went 2-for-4 with a HR today in a rehab game with Triple-A Omaha. Sounds like he'll get tomorrow off, play another game or two and then be evaluated for a return. #Royals want to make sure he can be 100% running-wise on the bases, in the field, etc.

— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) April 1, 2026

MLB.com wrote the biggest takeaway from each team’s first week.

Athletics outfielder Denzel Clarke made another ridiculous catch yesterday.

Fittingly, today’s song is Have You Ever Seen The Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival

With yesterday being April Fools’ Day, it is a bit difficult to trust any news posted. However, here is some good news from yesterday:

Chase DeLauter was still sore, but available as a pinch hitter last night. Yesterday’s game was a pre-scheduled day off and with the off day, today it is looking hopeful that CDL will be available for tomorrow’s home opener.

The Guards took the series against the Dodgers, nearly shutting out the reigning champs. Nick will have the Game Recap!

The Columbus Clippers were looking great last night with Kahlil Watson hitting a home run and Stuart Fairchild hitting two home runs.

Kahlil Watson sends his first one of the season💣 pic.twitter.com/2Gwe64Au4a

— GuardsInsider (@GuardsInsider) April 1, 2026

Don’t forget, now that MiLB is getting into full swing this week, we have Minor League Recaps posted here at Covering the Corner. If you are interested in the affiliates, Brian Hemminger has season previews for the teams. Yesterday the Lake County Captains and Hill City Howlers were featured.

José Ramírez continues to climbs various franchise leader boards. He is closing in on the #1 spot for All-Time Games Played.

Chasing history.#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/w5d0Po5AEd

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) April 2, 2026

Quincy Wheeler and Mike Mahoney released an episode of Disgusting Baseball last night to be found here. (Deborah (Nicole) and I will be recording another episode tonight! – editor’s note).

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (3-2)

SYRACUSE 4, TOLEDO 2 (BOX)

Jack Wenninger made the first Triple-A start of his career, and things went very well, as he didn’t lalow any runs, struck out five, walked one, and gave up five hits in four-and-two-thirds innings. Joey Gerber was the only Syracuse pitcher to give up any runs in the win, as Anderson Severino, Jonathan Pintaro, and Austin Warren all made scoreless appearances.

At the plate, Christian Arroyo had the best day with a couple of hits and a pair of runs batted in. The majority of Syracuse’s hitters had at least one hit on the day, as well.

• CF Nick Morabito: 1-4, R, SB
• DH Ronny Mauricio: 0-3, R, BB, K
• RF-1B Ryan Clifford: 1-4, K
• 3B Christian Arroyo: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI
• 1B Jose Rojas: 1-3, BB, K
• PR-2B Jackson Cluff: 0-0, R
• SS Vidal Bruján: 1-3, BB, K, SB
• C Ben Rortvedt: 1-3, R, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 K
• LF Cristian Pache: 1-3, RBI, BB, K
• 2B-RF Ji Hwan Bae: 0-3, 2 K
• P Jack Wenninger: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
• P Joey Gerber: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• P Anderson Severino: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• P Jonathan Pintaro: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• P Austin Warren: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (0-0)

NO GAME (SCHEDULE)

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (0-0)

NO GAME (SCHEDULE)

Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (0-0)

NO GAME (SCHEDULE)

Rookie: FCL Mets (0-0)

NO GAME (SCHEDULE)

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Jack Wenninger

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

Ji Hwan Bae

Good morning! I have some positive news: The Red Sox will not lose today. That’s of course because they don’t play again until tomorrow’s home opener, but hey, they can’t get any worse after a reset … right?

In the meantime, we’ve gotten a good whiff of the stink emanating from this lineup over the first six games of the season, and I’m completely underwhelmed by how weak the right handed bats look. So this got me wondering, if you were to compile a list of the best right-handed hitters in baseball, how far down it would you need to go to find the find the first Red Sox right-handed bat? 50 guys? 75 guys? It’s really quite depressing if you dive into the exercise.

The first step we need to figure out to get there though is identify which right-handed bat is Boston’s best. Trevor Story has been handed the keys to the No. 2 slot, so it should be him if he’s there on merit, but Willson Contreras probably has the better case as the best right-handed stick right now. Either way, that’s an incredibly weak headliner for the category.

Talk about this and whatever else you’d like, and as always, be good to one another!

1900
The White Sox played their first-ever game, an exhibition win over the University of Illinois baseball team in Champaign, 10-9. Roy Patterson got the win.

That season, the American League wasn’t considered a major league (the AL would band together with the National League to form MLB in 1901). However, the White Sox would win the AL’s first pennant on September 12, when they beat the Cleveland Blues. 12-4 and 9-1.

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1907
The best player in White Sox history (at least per his 77.5 career WAR), Luke Appling, was born in High Point, N.C. Exactly 20 years later, in Detroit, Billy Pierce was born. With their combined 127.3 WAR for the White Sox and universally beloved status, it’s safe to say there is no more important birthday on the franchise calendar than April 2.

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1982
The White Sox traded outfielder Wayne Nordhagen to Toronto for third baseman Aurelio Rodríguez. Over six years with the White Sox, Nordhagen was the epitome of a replacement player, earning just 0.4 WAR over 406 career games.

Still, the White Sox got the better end of this trade: Rodríguez spent all of 1982 with the White Sox, then signed with Baltimore for the 1983 season before returning to the White Sox after his release from Baltimore in August. The defensive whiz put up 0.5 WAR over the course of essentially one entire season (140 games) in 1982-83.

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1997
For the first time ever in Major League Baseball, one player’s salary is more than an entireteam’s salary.

OK, cool factoid. Why is that a part of White Sox History?

The reason — you may want to sit down for this — is that the player was on the Chicago White Sox. Yes, Albert Belle made $10 million in the first year of his free-agent deal with the South Siders, while the entire Pittsburgh Pirates payroll totaled just $9,071,667.

The 1997 season represented the last time the White Sox fielded the highest-paid player in baseball on their roster.

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2006
On Opening Night, the White Sox unfurled their 2005 World Champion banner at Sox Park. The night game was a concession for an ESPN national broadcast, and the South Siders set down their division rivals, 10-4. Jim Thome hit his first White Sox home run, through a driving rain in the fourth inning, putting the home team ahead to stay.

Overall, the game was delayed for three hours by rain.

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2021
Now THIS is how you make a debut!

White Sox DH Yermín Mercedes had more than 2,000 minor league at-bats before finally making an Opening Day roster in the majors. On this night in Anaheim, he had a sensational start, going 5-for-5, with four RBIs in a 12-8 win. Mercedes had four singles and a double in the game. Chrystal O’Keefe had the next-day South Side Sox feature about Yermín’s 5-for-5 outing.

The last time a rookie had five hits in his first game in the big leagues was 1933, when Cecil Travis of the Senators did it. Before Travis, Fred Clarke had gotten five hits in his first game as well — but Mercedes became the only player in history to go a perfect 5-for-5 in his debut.

Mercedes would go on to have 12 hits in his first four games — setting a modern major league record — and be named American League Player of the Week.

On this day just three years later, with a nod to how difficult it is to maintain a foothold in the majors, Mercedes signed a free agent contract … with the Kansas City Monarchs, an independent minor league team.

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2024
White Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet wrote his name in the team record book after throwing seven innings allowing one run and striking out eight in beating Atlanta, 3-2, on a raw night at Guaranteed Rate Field.

This came off his start against Detroit on Opening Day where he allowed a single run in six innings, striking out eight. It was his first two major league starts, and the 16 total strikeouts were the most ever for a Sox pitcher in the first two starts of his career.

He also joined Jack McDowell (1991) and Juan Pizarro (1963) as throwing at least six innings with one or fewer runs and at least six strikeouts in their first two starts of the season.

Hello, friends.

It only felt for a couple of days there like the Orioles were going to lose every game they ever play again. Thanks to Trevor Rogers and a breakout day from the offense, they were able to avoid a sweep by the Rangers with an 8-3 victory yesterday. Check out my recap of the game for more of the lovely totals.

After yesterday’s win, the Orioles are 3-3 through their first six games. That’s the same record that they had through six games a year ago. Only 3.7% of the season has been played. Lots of baseball remains. Coming up next for the Orioles is a three-game set against the Pirates, but that doesn’t start until Friday. Both they and the Pirates have the day off today.

Wednesday brought a couple of roster developments that may well have an impact on the whole rest of the season. The Orioles placed Zach Eflin on the 15-day injured list. That was no surprise. There’s still no diagnosis for his injury. I don’t think the MRI will bring good news. The other thing was that, in order to get Albert Suárez onto the roster, they transferred Jordan Westburg to the 60-day injured list. That means that the earliest that Westburg can play is the end of May.

I’ve been thinking that if we don’t see Westburg by May 1, that means we’re not going to see him at all this year. If I’m right in my guess, then this means we won’t see him. At some point, the Orioles will announce he needs the surgery and he’ll get it and he’ll be done for the year. I could be wrong. I often am when it comes to predicting the Orioles. My reasoning is that, if Westburg’s recovery was on pace that the platelet-rich plasma was working, then we’d be hearing by now about when he’ll start a rehab assignment. Instead, he’s heading the other direction.

Another open question is who will replace Eflin in the rotation. My assumption here – again, this could be wrong – is that it’s going to be Dean Kremer. The challenge with that is that the Orioles can’t recall Kremer until April 9 unless someone goes on the injured list at the same time. I think they’ll need someone to start on Monday or Tuesday, and there’s no guarantee that there will be an injured pitcher by then. That’s a problem for Monday or Tuesday, though. Yesterday, Elias solved his “we need long relief to save the rest of the bullpen” problem and it paid off with Suárez pitching three innings.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

We can say with certainty, no MLB game has ever ended like this before (Orioles.com)
The Orioles made a little fun history yesterday by having their win end from an ABS challenge turning a pitch into a third strike for the third out.

An early, nerdy look at the challenge system (FanGraphs)
And speaking of ABS challenges, the folks at FG are on top of figuring out how players seem to be using the challenges early on. It’ll be interesting to see how usage evolves over time, since after all it’s only been less than a week now.

It’s barely April, and it already feels like the Orioles are in the grind (The Baltimore Banner)
The Orioles, thankfully, dispelled a little bit of this with yesterday’s victory. It is, however, going to take sustained effort to avoid recurrences of some of their early problems.

Albernaz on Suárez joining Orioles (School of Roch)
The manager has a connection to Suárez from back when they were both minor leaguers in the Rays organization.

For Anthony Nunez, the best part of his MLB debut was sharing it with his mom (Steve on Baseball)
I am an absolute sucker for all “player’s family members there for the MLB debut” stories. This one on Nunez does not disappoint.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 1976, the Orioles and Athletics made a six-player trade that brought future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson to Baltimore for one season.

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 1996-97 outfielder Pete Incaviglia, 1957 pitcher Art Ceccarelli, 1960-61 pitcher Gordon Jones, and 1959 infielder Bobby Ávila.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: Frankish king Charlemagne (747), fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805), playwright Émile Zola (1840), and baseball Hall of Famers Hughie Jennings (1869), Luke Appling (1907), and Don Sutton (1945).

On this day in history…

In 1513, the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León landed on the mainland of what are now the United States for the first time. The first landing took place between the mouth of the St. John’s River and modern-day St. Augustine, Florida.

In 1800, composer Ludwig van Beethoven’s First Symphony had its premiere in Vienna, conducted by the man himself.

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany, which brought the country into the conflict that today we call World War I.

A random Orioles trivia question

I received a random book of Orioles trivia questions for Christmas. I’ll ask one of the questions each time it’s my turn in this space until I run out of questions. Since I’ve been skipping stupid questions (I suspect this book was churned out by AI with minimal human oversight,) today is the penultimate question for this exercise. Here’s today’s question:

Who was the first Orioles pitcher to lead the American League in strikeouts for a season?

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And that’s the way it is in Birdland on April 2. Have a safe Thursday.

What a great couple of days for the Phillies rookies. First, Andrew Painter dazzled in his first start and stopped a three-game losing streak, and then less than 24 hours later, Justin Crawford collected his first walk-off hit and RBI in the tenth inning to cap off a memorable comeback. There will surely be growing pains, but the Phillies’ infusion of youth has already brought a spark to the 2026 season.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Andrew Painter had a small village of friends and family in tow for his MLB debut, and they all joined him to bask in the glow of a long journey to the majors finally finished. ($)
• An injury update on Zack Wheeler and Orion Kerkering, with the former set to pitch on Friday and the latter making his second appearance yesterday.
• A check in on where each of the Phillies top 30 prospects will begin their 2026 season.

MLB News:

• There aren’t many people off to a worse start in 2026 than umpire C.B Bucknor, who on the heels of a genuinely shocking missed call had to exit yesterday’s game after a foul tip hit him in the mask.
• Speaking of umpires, some of those who have retired are feeling for what their brethren are going through with the new ABS system. ($)
• Old friend and current Kansas City Royal Carlos Estévez is headed to the injured list with a foot contusion.

It’s hard to demand a better start to the Yankees’ 2026 campaign than this 5-1 season-opening West Coast road trip. It’s tempting to be greedy and wish that they hadn’t been walked off in Seattle on Monday, but they lost a tough game in an opposing ballpark to a team that fell a win shy of the World Series in 2025 on a walk-off hit by the AL MVP runner-up. It happens. No one’s undefeated, anyway, and only the Brewers and Marlins have matched the Yanks’ 5-1 start; note that both of them got to play the White Sox.

The Yankees will face those Fish on Friday in the Bronx for the Yankee Stadium home opener. Until then, we wait. In the meantime, what do you think was the best moment from this strong start? There’s no shortage of contenders, as it’s been a well-rounded attack. Is it Max Fried’s Opening Night gem by the Bay? David Bednar’s great escape last night in Seattle to secure the series win? Cam Schlittler’s dazzling work? Aaron Judge sparking the offense with homers in the last two San Francisco games? Ben Rice blistering doubles?

Because I am nothing if not a Giancarlo Stanton enthusiast, I will lean toward him going 414 feet at Oracle Park on Friday shortly after Judge’s tank. Stanton’s been scorching hot with multi-hit games in each of his first five contests (before resting yesterday) and his approach hasn’t exclusively been long-ball reliant … but boy those dingers are still fun. Great developments from 36-year-old Big G.

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Today on the site, Peter breaks down his Sequence of the Week, Madison runs through the Rivalry Roundup, and Nick celebrates the birthday of a great one-year Yankee in righty Jon Lieber. Later, Michael previews Double-A Somerset’s season, Andrés examines a few small tweaks that have helped Jake Bird get off to a much better (early) start in pinstripes than he did after coming over from the Rockies in 2025, and Sam chips in some thoughts of his own

Today’s Matchup

Offday

NJ.com | Randy Miller: Yesterday, it was reported that Yankees starter Carlos Rodón, who began the year on the injured list due to offseason surgery, was dealing with right hamstring tightness. Although the left-hander did throw a bullpen session yesterday, it appears that, although the Yankees believe the injury is a “minor thing,” the start of Rodón’s rehab assignment has been pushed back slightly.

ESPN | Associated Press: Yankees No. 5 starter Luis Gil, who was not named to the Opening Day roster because the Yankees only need a four-man rotation until April 11th, reported to Triple-A Scranton yesterday. According to manager Aaron Boone, Gil will have his next bullpen day and make his next start with the RailRiders, before making his season debut with the big league club at Tampa Bay next Saturday.

MLB.com | Jim Callis: MLB has officially informed all of its teams about each respective slot values and combined available bonus pool money for the upcoming 2026 draft. The pick values are up by 2.5 percent from 2025. The Yankees will have a total of $7,342,800 at their disposal for draft bonuses this July, with their top pick (35th overall) worth $2,826,700. As a reminder for those unfamiliar, teams can choose to distribute the combined bonus pool money however they want and are not obligated to go by each pick’s official designation. They can also outspend their total pool by zero to five percent and only be taxed an extra 75-percent on the overage. Outspending beyond that carries future draft pick penalties, which have never been incurred in the 14-year history of this system.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: It’s only been a week, but early indications suggest that the Yankees will be both one of the most aggressive and one of the most successful teams when it comes to challenging balls and strikes via the new ABS challenge system. Heading into action yesterday afternoon, New York led the league in challenges with 10, including eight successful, and the team’s catching tandem of Austin Wells and J.C. Escarra had been a perfect four-for-four. According to the players, this has been a deliberate strategy, as the team had what Aaron Judge jokingly called “too many meetings” to gameplan for the new wrinkle.

Front Office Sports | Ryan Glasspiegel: Former Yankee reliever Adam Ottavino continues to build his post-playing media career, adding a gig with ESPN as an MLB analyst to a busy schedule that includes work as a studio analyst with the YES Network, Sunday Night Baseball with NBC Sports, and his own YouTube channel. Ottavino joins an analyst team that has undergone extensive turnover this winter.

If you look at the current Diamondbacks’ win-loss record, you could say that the season is going according to expectations, although, all truth told, the Diamondbacks do not necessarily have an easy start of the season with the World Series champions in our first series, a 2025 play-off team in our second series and a traditional contender like the Braves, who missed out on the play-offs in 2025 for the first time in 7 years, in our third series of the season.

Not entering April until just yesterday, the season is still very young, but sweeping the Tigers is a mighty statement from our side. What is there to say about our opponent beside the fact that we had their number last year, going 4-2?

Familiar faces.

The Braves have an okay start of the season, nothing spectacular. They beat the Royals in their opening series of the season at home and had a similar kind of matchup with the Athletics in their second series, winning both series 2-1. They will arrive at Arizona going 4-2.

They do so with quite a familiar team and lineup: Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley are familiar faces on the dirt. So are the now healthy Ronald Acuña Jr and Michael Harris II in the outfield. Former Giant Mike Yastrzemski is nowadays manning left field, after being signed to a 2-year $23MM contract, while Mauricio Dubón, a utility gold glover whom the Braves acquired from the Astros for Nick Allen, is currently the fixed name at short stop.

Dubón should have lost that position to Ha-Seong Kim, were it not that the former Korean Padre injured his hand in Korea during the off-season and will be out until May-June. It puts another remarkable note to Kim’s career thus far in the major leagues. Injured during the final months of the 2024 season, he missed the play-offs with the Padres and surprisingly decided to decline an $8MM player option. Boras got him signed by the Rays, who stepped out of their comfort zone by offering $29MM over 2 years. He was injured for most of the year and only played from July to August, before getting injured again. The Rays put him on waivers and the Braves claimed. After a good showing in a small sample size in September, once again Kim surprised and decided to opt out of his final year and $16MM. Many jaws dropped when the Braves signed him again to a 1-year contract worth $20MM, supposedly declining a 4-year $48MM offer from the Athletics. That signing, right now, might have cost the Braves more than just money, because they could have allocated funds to areas that are in more need of improvement.

Have the Braves improved?

While we won’t see Kim, and apart from former foe Yastrzemski, there are a couple of other notable free agent signings: hard throwing Robert Suarez, well known from the Padres, was signed to a three year deal worth $45MM. Relievers Raisel Iglesias and Tyler Kinley also returned, respectively on 1 year $16MM and $4.25MM deals. Former friend Joel Payamps and veteran Martin Perez were also added to deals, the latter one as swingman between bullpen and starting rotation. On the depth chart we can find known names as Kyle Farmer (with the Rockies in 2025), Jorge Mateo, catcher Jonah Heim, and Dominic Smith (with the Giants in 2025).

On paper they seem to have become better, with Marcell Ozuno being the only 1+ fWAR player to have left the organization. As we probably know, former Padre and “Koninkrijk” buddy of mine Jurickson Profar is suspended for the entire season after testing positive again for PEDs, forfeiting around $15MM.

In 2025, the Braves’ offence and starting rotation were middle of the pack. Atlanta is surely banking on better production from Ozzie Albies (89 OPS+ in 2025), Michael Harris II (88 OPS+ in 2025) and Austin Riley (106 OPS+ in 2025 compared to 130 OPS+ in 2023) and a full season of Ronald Acuña Jr (95 games in 2025).

The rotation is lead by ace Chris Sale, who seems unstoppable ever since joining Atlanta, and we might be lucky he won’t pitch in this series. Spencer Schwellenbach makes for a fine 2nd, though is currently injured, he too is out for this series. Spencer Strider struggled in 2025, his first full season after returning from TJ, and also sustained an injury recently and is ruled out for this series too, so the number 2-3 now looks to be Reynaldo López. After him the starting rotation looks cloudy for the moment with Bryce Elder and Grant Holmes, though the first had a good start of the season. Prospects JR Ritchie and Didier Fuentes might be on the lookout for showing off what they have on the highest level in the first months of the season.

The weakest link in 2025 for Atlanta was the bullpen. They were better than Arizona’s, which isn’t that hard you’d say, but FanGraphs rated it as one of the worst in the league. Understandable that they went hard for Robert Suarez and were keen on bringing back valuable 2025 pieces Kinley and Iglesias. Together with lefties Dylan Lee and Aaron Bummer and new acquisitions Martin Perez and Joel Payamps, they should make for a stable relief corps, and thus could aspire a play-off spot once again.

All of that is lead by a new manager. After years of Brian Snitker, the manager wasn’t keen to commit and doubts about the 2025 performance by both sides resulted to bench manager Walt Weiss to be promoted to head coach. Weiss was the head coach of the Colorado Rockies from 2013 to 2016 and will look to improve on his highest total of 75 wins in that final season.

As normal, the Braves arrive with a team that will be tough to beat.

Matchups.

No confirmed starters as of writing.

Game #1 Thu 04/02 6:40 PM MST, Ryne Nelson (ARI) vs Reynaldo López (ATL).

• Ryne Nelson. 1 GS, 4.2 IP, 0 W-1 L, 7.71 ERA, 8.98 FIP, 1.07 WHIP, 4/3 K/BB.
• Reynaldo López. 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 0 W-0 L, 1.50 ERA, 5.36 FIP, 0.83 WHIP, 3/2 K/BB.

He deserves to be the Opening Day starter! That was what many of us said, including me, about Ryne Nelson. After that disappointing first performance we might be a bit less vocal now, and above all hope Nelson bounces back as soon as possible.

Opposite is Reynaldo López, who surfaced as an interesting bullpen piece in 2022 on the Chicago White Sox, after some anonymous years on that same team the years before. He followed that up with a good 2023 season in relief for White Sox, Angels and Guardians only to become an All Star as a starting pitcher on the 2024 Atlanta Braves. Unfortunately, he suffered a back injury after that and didn’t return until the end of the 2025 season. The hopes are high again in 2026, though it remains to be seen if Lopez can reach his 2024 heights. The righty, if fully healthy, normally sports a 95 mph fastball, a slider, changeup and curve.

López never faced the Diamondbacks as a starter, Nelson faced the Braves for the last time as a starter two years ago.

Game #2 Fri 04/03 6:45 PM MST, Eduardo Rodriguez (ARI) vs Grant Holmes (ATL).

• Eduardo Rodriguez. 1 GS, 5.0 IP, 1 W-0 L, 0.00 ERA, 2.40 FIP, 1.20 WHIP, 5/2 K/BB.
• Grant Holmes. 1 GS, 5.0 IP, 0 W-1 L, 5.40 ERA, 5.40 FIP, 1.40 WHIP, 4/2 K/BB.

E-Rod was lights out in his first appearance and we all hope he continues to perform that way in his second appearance of the season, opposite Grant Holmes.

Holmes debuted in 2024 and pitched in 22 games last season, providing 115.0 valuable innings with a 3.99 ERA until he went down late July with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament and was done for the year. Instead of undergoing TJ, he opted to rehab the elbow and thus far has ducked surgery and avoided a long absence. Holmes had a great Spring, and had two good opening innings against Kansas before giving up a run in each of the next 3 innings. The righty has a good slider and curve, but his 94 mph fastball is one of the weakest in the league.

Holmes faced the Diamondbacks twice in his career, both of the times last season. It were two no-decisions, though he gave up 3 runs in 3.1 innings on June 5 and 6 runs in 5.2 innings on April 26. In the April matchup the Diamondbacks blew a 6-2 lead and lost after 10 innings (8-7). In the June outing the Diamondbacks rallied for 7 runs in the 9th inning, beating the Braves 11-10.

Rodriguez faced the Braves twice in his career, the last time in 2021, when he was still with the Red Sox.

Game #3 Sat 04/04 4:15 PM MST, Michael Soroka (ARI) vs Bryce Elder (ATL).

• Michael Soroka. 1 GS, 5.0 IP, 1 W-0 L, 0.00 ERA, -0.20 FIP, 1.00 WHIP, 10/1 K/BB.
• Bryce Elder. 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 1 W-0 L, 0.00 ERA, 2.03 FIP, 1.00 WHIP, 5/1 K/BB.

We surely hope the Canadian will continue his good work in his second outing, where he will face Bryce Elder, who wasn’t as good as Soroka was in his first matchup, but completed 6 innings without giving up a run. Bryce Elder was an All Star in 2023, but has lost his shine ever since that 2023 All Star break, last season pitching to a 5.30 ERA. The league seems to have adjusted to him, though he kept the Royals off the board in his first serious outing of 2026. Elder is a soft-tosser with a 91 mph sinker and needs his off-speed pitches to work, but his changeup was his worst pitch in 2025.

Soroka has faced the Braves just once in his career, in 2024, and got a no-decision. No-decisions were also the outcome for Elder’s starts against the Diamondbacks, one in 2024 and the first one in 2023.

Game #4 Sun 04/05 1:10 PM MST, Brandon Pfaadt (ARI) vs TBD (ATL).

• Brandon Pfaadt. 1 GS, 6.0 IP, 0 W-0 L, 7.50 ERA, 2.70 FIP, 1.17 WHIP, 3/1 K/BB.
• TBD.

Atlanta’s starter is a question mark. This spot in the rotation was given to Jose Suarez but the Venezuelan had a short start of 3.2 innings, giving up 4 runs. He could get another start, but the odds are good that the Braves might give the starting job for this matchup to veteran Martin Perez or one of the rookies, like Didier Fuentes. That might give Pfaadt the chance to get his first win of the season and forget about his tough 3rd inning against Detroit.

At home, Pfaadt has faced the Braves twice in his career, getting two wins, the last time on April 27 in 2025. The last time he faced the Braves, he gave up 6 runs in 3 innings in Atlanta, but it was that June game where the Diamondbacks went on to rally for 7 runs, so he got to avoid a loss.

Maybe Jeff McNeil was trying to exorcise his early-season demons. 

The former Met let out an expletive into a hot mic after he struck out in the top of the ninth that was so loud that the astronauts on the Artemis II could have heard it in space. 

McNeil let out a massive “F–k!” after he tipped the ball into the glove of the Braves catcher Drake Baldwin who held on to the catch with his bare hand after it popped up during the Athletics’ 5-1 loss in Atlanta on Wednesday.

Warning: Adult language

Come for the Drake Baldwin highlight, stay for the McNeil hot mic https://t.co/kKpIYtF7T3pic.twitter.com/54Q6RRb70J

— jxke. (@cantguardjake) April 1, 2026

The A’s second baseman had been taking a swing at a 2-2 slider from Braves closer Raisel Iglesias, which led to the ball getting clipped and landing in the glove of the catcher.

After that, McNeil made the outburst that was clearly picked up on the broadcast. 

It’s a safe bet that the expletive was directed beyond just the lone out, as he’s struggled in the first few games with his new team since the 2026 season began. 

McNeill is batting .077 through his first five games of the season and has just one hit in 13 at-bats. He went hitless in two at-bats as a pinch hitter on Wednesday.

Additionally, the club has struggled out of the gate, winning just one of its first six games, with the lone victory coming against the Braves on March 31. 

McNeill is known for playing with fiery passion, and Wednesday was not the first time he was caught using an expletive after being struck out. 

Last September, while still with the Mets, McNeil was caught on the field mic shouting, “F-K YOU, GOD DAMNIT!”

That incident occurred during a game against the Rangers at Citi Field when he struck out in the bottom of the fourth inning. 

The comment was directed toward the home plate umpire and McNeil was quickly ejected from the game. 

McNeil, a two-time MLB All-Star, was traded to the Athletics during the offseason in a deal that sent pitching prospect Yordan Rodríguez to Queens.