Category: Baseball

Well, they got the series loss out of the way. Not surprisingly, it came in a series where the games weren’t really managed with urgency on the pitching side. Now, the season standings are what they are, so I can get soft-pedaling things, though it’s not actually any more enjoyable to watch in the moment than if the standings were more dire. But, it’s not like the team’s first series loss was some kind of devastating blow.

Right now, getting swept also wouldn’t be a devastating blow. But, we also don’t know that the Braves will get swept any time soon. Do you think they will? If so, when? Who’s gonna achieve it?

The 2024 Braves didn’t get swept until early May… by the Dodgers… on a road trip to Seattle and Los Angeles… after losing a series to the Mariners.

The 2023 Braves actually got swept in late April by the Astros.

The 2022 Braves were never swept.

The 2021 Braves were swept in their first series of the year… as were the 2019 Braves. Both happened in Philadelphia.

The 2020 Braves were only swept in a two-game set in Games 19 and 20 of that shortened season. A funny thing there was that they were swept at Yankee Stadium, and then later that month, swept the Yankees in two games at home. The team only participated in one other sweep the rest of the way.

The 2018 team also lasted until early May, where they were swept at home by the Giants.

Cole Ragans exited after just 3 innings, in last night’s 3-1 loss.

After just 58 pitches thrown across three innings, starter Cole Ragans exited the Royals’ 3-1 loss to the Guardians on Wednesday with left triceps and elbow soreness. He’ll undergo further testing and evaluation on Thursday to determine the severity and next steps.

Ragans said he felt tightness creep into the back of his left triceps and just above the elbow throughout the third inning. He got out of a jam that had runners on first and third with two outs with a popup to get him through his third scoreless frame, but when he got back in the dugout, he alerted the Royals’ coaching and training staff of the tightness.

“It got to a point where I didn’t feel like I needed to push it anymore,” Ragans said. “Talked to [pitching coach Brian] Sweeney and all of them, and figured that was the best decision.”

Carlos Estevez made his first rehab outing yesterday in Omaha… it didn’t go well.

Three batters into the outing with Triple-A Omaha, Estévez was exiting with shoulder discomfort, motioning to his right arm as a trainer came out for a mound visit.

Estévez was traveling back from Indianapolis, where the Storm Chasers were playing, on Wednesday. He’ll undergo further testing and evaluation on Thursday, manager Matt Quatraro said after the Royals’ 3-1 loss to the Guardians on Wednesday night.

He averaged 90 mph with his four-seam fastball on Wednesday – a pitch he averaged 95.9 mph with last season. His changeup registered at 81.2 mph, while his slider clocked in at an 81.4 mph on average.

Eric Cerantola, who made his MLB debut last night, was tabbed as a prospect with future closer potential.

Cerantola spent all of 2025 with Triple-A Omaha and found some success, posting a 4.04 ERA and 29.6 percent strikeout rate over 49 innings. He’s returned to the International League for this season and been even more dominant (1.42 ERA, 33.3 K%) and a big reason is that he took his slider — which was already his primary pitch, and a dominant one — and improved it by adding about five inches more drop and cutting some of the gloveside break. He’s thrown the slide piece 56.8 percent of the time, and opponents have a .069 average and 59.2 percent whiff rate against it. He also shows a mid-90s four-seamer.

Josh Hammond breaks into the Baseball America top 100 prospect list at #94, joining Kendry Chourio at #53. [$]

“In high school, Hammond was a standout, two-way talent. As a pro, he’s hitting only—but he’s really hitting. He jumped straight to Low-A and has been one of the most productive players on his team and in the Carolina League overall. If he develops the way the Royals hope, he could be a true five-tool talent.”

Kevin O’Brien of Royals Keep talked about how the Royals have won the Isaac Collins/Nick Mears trade.

O’Brien also talks about the Royals starting rotation.

Hawaiian Bros changes the terms of their promotion with the Royals to make it “buy one, get one free”.

With a new Royals stadium downtown, what is next for Washington Square Park?

The Cubs won their 14th straight home game, with another walk-off.

Framber Valdez is suspended five games for throwing at a hitter, and will miss this weekend against the Royals.

Paul Skenes is back to doing Paul Skenes things after a shaky Opening Day start.

Tarik Skubal’s injury leaves the Tigers in an uncertain place.

Bunting and small ball is back!

Walks are surging in baseball and it may be because of ABS. [$]

Today’s song of the day is Riptide by Vance Joy

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The New York Yankees will look to win a series this afternoon when they face the Texas Rangers.

The Rangers grabbed a bit of a surprising blowout win last night, giving them their first win of this series. That won’t repeat here. 

Read all about it in my Rangers vs. Yankees predictions and MLB picks for Thursday, May 7.

Who will win Rangers vs Yankees today: Yankees moneyline (-135)

There’s a pretty big matchup problem for MacKenzie Gore here. He’s posted a 90th-percentile strikeout rate in the early season, showing his ability to miss bats. That will give him success against parts of this New York Yankees lineup.

The rest, though, will be a problem. 

He pairs his strikeout prowess with a walk rate in the Bottom 25% of the sport and a 12th-percentile barrel rate. That combo will punish him sooner or later when facing a lineup that is bottom in chase rate and Top 3 in both barrel plus hard-hit rate. 

On the other side, I’m always a fan of backing Paul Blackburn — filling in for Ryan Weathers — as I view him as one of the more underrated pitchers in baseball over the last two seasons. Why? Contact suppression. He doesn’t give up many barrels, which should play well here. I’d take this to -155.

COVERS INTEL: Blackburn’s contact suppression is best highlighted by Top-20% barrel and groundball rates.

Rangers vs Yankees Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-105)

Despite scoring 10 runs over the last two games, this isn’t a Rangers lineup that puts up crooked numbers by design. Blackburn’s breaking ball and offspeed pitch both grade above the 80th percentile by run value, which should provide dividends against this weak offense. 

As mentioned, Gore’s strikeout ability will keep a large portion of this Yankees offense from stringing stuff together too often as well.

Texas and New York also feature two of the strongest run-suppressing bullpens in MLB, ranking 1st and 3rd, respectively, in reliever ERA.

I’d play this to -120.

Rangers vs Yankees odds

• Moneyline: Rangers +123 | Yankees -149
• Run line: Rangers +1.5 (-163) | Yankees -1.5 (+135)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (-115) | Under 8.5 (-105)

Rangers vs Yankees trend

The New York Yankees have hit the Moneyline in 12 of their last 15 games (+7.85 Units / 33% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Rangers vs. Yankees.

How to watch Rangers vs Yankees and game info

Rangers vs Yankees latest injuries

Rangers vs Yankees weather

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

The Mets close out a three-game series against the Rockies in Colorado at 3:10 p.m. on SNY.

Mets Notes

• Carson Benge is slashing .273/.320/.455 with two homers and seven RBI over his last 15 games
• Marcus Semien recorded the Mets' first four-hit game of the season on Wednesday 
• Semien is a career .385 hitter in 17 at-bats against Jose Quintana
• Christian Scott struck out eight over 5.0 innings of work his last time out
• The Mets are looking to lock-up their first series sweep since the beginning of April in San Fran

Today's Lineups

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Meet the Mets

The offense showed up in a big way in the Mets’ 10-5 win over the Rockies. Marcus Semien led the offensive charge with a four-hit night that included a home run. Juan Soto also went deep leading off the game to set the tone early on. The pitching struggled a bit, but the Mets have now taken the first two games in the series with a snow day in between.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, Faith and Fear in Flushing, MLB.com, Newsday, NY Post

Carson Benge had another good day at the plate, but his defense has also made an impact recently.

Snow days are rare in baseball, but the Mets were able to enjoy their day off in Denver.

A.J. Minter experienced a setback during his rehab assignment and will be reassessed in the coming days.

There is still no timetable for Jorge Polanco’s return, but he expects to play first base when he comes off the IL.

The Mets have a solid core of young pitching with Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, and Jonah Tong, but even more pitching help could be on the way.

Around the National League East

Ted Turner, the former owner of the Atlanta Braves, passed away at the age of 87.

Atlanta fell to the Marlins 3-1 to drop the series against Miami.

The Marlins are calling up Robby Snelling, one of their top prospects, to make his MLB debut against the Nationals this weekend.

Zack Wheeler and the Phillies defeated the Athletics 6-3.

The Nationals exploded for 15 runs in their 15-2 rout of the Twins.

Around Major League Baseball

Astros third baseman Carlos Correa will miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury he sustained in batting practice.

Additional reporting about former Tigers Triple-A manager Gabe Alvarez revealed that he was dismissed after allegedly harrassing a female employee.

Framber Valdez received a 5-game suspension for throwing at Trevor Story which led to a benches-clearing incident between the Tigers and Red Sox.

Cubs starter Matthew Boyd suffered a meniscus injury while playing with his children and will be out for the foreseeable future.

Three batters were hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the contest between the White Sox and Angels which is the first time in at least 70 seasons that has happened.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Chris McShane took a look at Carson Benge’s recent improvements at the plate.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 2012, Jordany Valdespin hit a pinch-hit three-run home run for his first career major league hit.

Rangers 6, Yankees 1

• The Rangers have won a game! Huzzah!
• Not only did the Rangers win a game, they won it against one of the two teams in the American League with a record better than .500.
• That’s right, its mediocrity as far as the eye can see in the A.L. right now.
• Outstanding work by Nathan Eovaldi. Really top notch.
• Eight innings, eight Ks, which is some nice symmetry. 101 pitches, of which almost two-thirds were either splitters or curveballs.
• And even when Eovaldi did go fastball, he primarily used his cutter, which he threw 23 times. He only went with the fastball nine times, and threw four sinkers.
• 19 whiffs for Eovaldi, eight of them coming on the curveball. He threw it a lot more often than usual on Wednesday, and you can see why.
• The only damper was a home run by Aaron Judge, but I’m pretty sure Aaron Judge homers every game so we can let that go.
• Plus the Rangers actually scored some runs.
• Novel concept, that.
• Evan Carter homered and Corey Seager homered. We like that, right?
• The Rangers are two games below .500 now, but still just a game back of the A’s, and tied with the Mariners. That mediocrity I was talking about earlier, you know.
• I mentioned that the Yankees are one of two teams in the American League above .500. They are 25-12, tied with the Cubs for the second-best record in baseball, behind the 26-12 Atlanta Braves.
• The other team in the A.L. above .500? The Tampa Bay Rays. They are 24-12.
• Yeah, that surprised me, too.
• Tampa has won 6 in a row and 12 of their last 13. In fact, Tampa has three six game winning streaks so far this year. Its weird.
• So there are four teams with 12 losses currently. There are also four teams with 23 losses — the Astros, the Angels, the Giants, and the Rockies.
• And there are six — count ‘em, six — teams with exactly 20 losses. That seems like a lot.
• Nathan Eovaldi touched 96.8 mph with his fastball, averaging 95.0 mph. Jacob Latz’s fastball reached 95.5 mph.
• Jake Burger had a 109.1 mph single and a 103.0 mph ground out. Ezequiel Duran had a 107.6 mph double and a 102.3 mph sacrifice fly. Evan Carter had a 106.2 mph ground out, and his home run was 99.6 mph. Brandon Nimmo had a 104.2 mph ground out. Corey Seager’s homer was 101.7 mph.
• Wins are good. Let’s do that more.

Juan Soto had only hit in the leadoff spot two times in his big-league career prior to this week. 

But when Carlos Mendoza approached him with the idea of moving him there in an effort to create more traffic for the Mets' shorthanded offense, he was all-in.

"I told him right away, whatever he wants," Soto said. "Wherever he wants me I'll be there -- anything I can do to help the team out, I'm going to be open to it."

Soto went hitless in his return to the spot during Monday's series opener, but he was able to do some damage against Rockies right-hander Michael Lorenzen to open the ballgame Wednesday night. 

Just three pitches into the ballgame, he jumped all over a low-and-away curveball, crushing it 435 feet to left-center for his fourth homer of the season and the first leading off in his career. 

"It's great," Soto said. "To be able to punch first in the first inning with the team is always great -- it gets the guys going and helps the starter sit and breathe a little starting the game with the lead, it's definitely great."

That ended up being Soto's only hit in the ballgame, but he did drive in another run with a sacrifice fly as the bottom of the Mets' order got things going again during the middle innings. 

New York struck three times in the fourth, four in the sixth, and two in the ninth in a much-needed 10-run outburst. 

Brett Baty, Carson Benge, Marcus Semien, and Francisco Alvarez combined to account for 10 of the team's 15 hits while scoring eight runs and driving in five out of the five-through-nine spots in the lineup.  

Semien spearheaded the effort by delivering the team's first four-hit game of the season.

"It's always great to have the bottom of the lineup producing and helping the top part of the order have some breathing room," Soto said. "It was great to see those guys come through like that."

Soto did appear to have a bit of an injury scare, but he told Carlos Mendoza that he was fine. 

The Mets will look to complete their first series sweep since the beginning of April with Christian Scott taking the ball for the third time this season on Thursday afternoon. 

"It's important to continue winning series," Mendoza said. "It's important to come back and get the third one tomorrow -- but it is good to see the guys playing loose, playing with confidence, and not trying to do too much."

The Los Angeles Dodgers finished their road trip at .500, and are exhaling in a multitude of ways.

The most immediate concern was for their starting pitcher, Tyler Glasnow, who exited Wednesday’s matinee game against the Houston Astros just after taking the mound to warm up for the second inning. Initial news was that it was Glasnow’s lower back that was bothering him.

Back pain is nothing new to Glasnow, who has dealt with it most of his major league career. Most recently the 6’8” pitcher skipped a start last September dealing with what he called “tall guy back”. In 2024 he also dealt with it but avoided the IL.

Glasnow did not put up too much of a fight when the trainer came out to talk to him. He had thrown 19 pitches in the first inning, and that would be all he would throw. After the game, Manager Dave Roberts said that there would be a precautionary MRI when the team returned to Los Angeles, but Glasnow is not expected to land on the IL.

“I think today, given the situation with Tyler, it couldn’t have been a better outcome,” Roberts said.

Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic has more info on Glasnow and the pitching staff as a whole here.

Another thing that led to a happy flight home was the offense continued to score against the Astros. The team scored eight in Monday’s game, only one in Tuesday’s game, but then erupted for 12 runs in Wednesday’s game.

They started the game by scoring on three different wild pitches off the arm of Lance McCullers Jr, but that triplet was overshadowed by Andy Pages’ three home runs. He had half of the RBI and made some great plays in center.

“Just having a lot of confidence in what I’m doing up there,” Pages said through interpreter Juan Dorado. “The bad streak really happened when I was hitting the ball well and hitting the ball hard, just not finding a lot of holes. But staying to my plan, staying confident in my approach, and the results are coming now.”

Courtney Hollman of MLB.com covers more of Roberts’ thoughts on the day.

The end of the exhale was over other certain players performances at the plate. Shohei Ohtani had a double to right center in his second at bat, and added a walk and an RBI single to his day. Kyle Tucker’s bat also seemed to come alive in Houston, going 7-for 21.

Bill Plunkett of the OC Register goes in depth with quotes from players here.

The Dodgers will need all cylinders firing together as they will begin a three-game set with the Atlanta Braves on Friday, who are owners of the best record in all of MLB.

Columbus Clippers 2, Iowa Cubs 3

The story of this game was the performance from Rorik Maltrud. He went 7 scoreless innings giving up just one hit with 8 strikeouts. He has had a really awesome season as his ERA is down to 2.08. He is a little older than you’d like to see for a prospect who is just now pitching well in AAA but he has been the Clippers best starter.

It wasn’t a huge day offensively for the Clippers but there were a couple nice performances. George Valera and Nolan Jones both went 2-5. Stuart Fairchild went 1-3 with a smoked double and a two walks. Kody Huff went 2-2 with 2 RBIs and a double. He has had a really nice season thus far.

Akron RubberDucks 4, Richmond Flying Squirrels 5

Ralphy Velazquez continues to have a great season in AA. He went 1-3 with two walks last night and is now hitting .297 with an .893 OPS on the season. He should be promoted to AAA sooner rather than later in my personal opinion. Jacob Cozart went 2-4 with an RBI double. Nick Mitchell went 1-3 with a walk and an RBI double.

It has been a rough season for Dylan Delucia but he had an excellent outing today. He tossed 4 scoreless innings while striking out 6 batters and walking just 1. His ERA sits at 8.41 on the season. Carter Rustad also had two scorless innings of relief with two strikeouts and no walks. He has had a really nice season as his ERA is down to 1.10.

Lake County Captains 1, Great Lakes Loons 7

Is it just me or does it seem like Great Lakes(Dodgers affiliate) has owned the Captains for years now? It was a rough performance overall from the Captains. Jogly Garcia was someone with a bit of hype coming into this season and it has been rough for him. His ERA is up to 7.25 on the season after giving up 6 runs in just 4.1 innings. The Captains totaled just 3 hits in this one, two of those coming from Ryan Cesarini that included a HR.

Fredericksburg Nationals 3, Hill City Howlers 4

The Howlers were the only affiliate to win today, and it was mostly due to their pitching performances. Nelson Keljo allowed 2 runs in his 3 innings pitched, and then the bullpen allowed just 1 more run in 6 innings with 9 strikeouts.

Robert Arias continues to be the most impressive young prospect on a team full of young impressive prospects. He went 0-1 with 3 walks tonight. He is hitting .323 with an OPS of .933. Anthony Martinez went 2-4, Yeiferth Castillo went 1-4 with an RBI double, and Yerlin Luis walked it off with a solo HR in the bottom of the 9th.

A few weeks ago upon the news of Angels franchise icon Garret Anderson passing away, John wrote a tribute to him, saluting him as one of the great Yankee Killers of recent vintage. Although David Ortiz was far more famous, Yankees pitchers were also quite flummoxed by having to pitch to Garret.

Now today, we’re on the other side of the ball and on the heels of the Yankees once again getting rolled by the man we’ve taken to calling “an old frenemy,” Nathan Eovaldi. The Yanks have lost just twice in the last nine games, and both times were at Eovaldi’s hands. The former Yankee has pretty much always pitched well in such situtations, with a 2.82 career ERA in career 153 innings against New York (including his two playoff wins with Boston), and he’s been especially good of late. Since the start of 2025, he’s allowed a grand total of two runs in four starts across a span of 29 innings, a minuscule 0.63 ERA. Goodness.

With Eovaldi’s excellence in mind, who do you think is the best Yankees Killer on the mound? If you need a refresher, there are some good names to consider. Hall of Fame southpaw Randy Johnson was brutal for just about everyone to deal with, and he helped two separate teams send the Yankees home in October around a time when that wasn’t happening very often — first with the 1995 Mariners, just before the dynasty really got humming and then with the 2001 Diamondbacks, who effectively ended the championship run. He even pitched in relief during the win-or-go-home elimination games on both occasions!

There’s also Luis Tiant, Dave Stieb, Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett, Cliff Lee, Dallas Keuchel, Justin Verlander, and of course the originally-named “Yankee Killer,” midcentury All-Star Frank Lary. Knuckleballing Hall of Fame swingman Hoyt Wilhelm also had a 1.98 ERA in 209.1 career innings against New York around the same time as Lary, and he threw what still stands as the last complete-game no-hitter against the Yankees back in 1958. If you want obscure and random, I remember the Red Sox having a soft-tosser named Frank Castillo who absolutely gave the Yankees fits in the early 2000s. More recently, Cristian Javier and Brayan Bello have been tougher customers against the Yanks than most other teams.

So take your pick! I think Johnson probably has too much of a resume to ignore, but if we’re talking non-Hall of Famers, boy was it never, ever fun to face Cliff Lee. And like Johnson, he made the Yanks look awful in postseason play pretty much whenever he got a chance.

It’s not surprising that the Yankees’ front office wanted him so much, nearly trading for him in July 2010 and falling short in the 2011 free agent sweepstakes. If you prefer to be optimistic (in a way) though, maybe it would’ve just turned out like Johnson’s own up-and-down, abbreviated Yankees career.

Today on the site, Peter will focus in on an at-bat from David Bednar’s five-out save on May 5th for his Sequence of the Week feature, Madison will have the Rivalry Roundup, and Jonathan’s Yankees Birthday post discusses Tom Zachary, who won a World Series in pinstripes in 1928 but is most famous for something he did before ever joining the Yankees: surrendering Babe Ruth’s then-record 60th homer of the legendary 1927 campaign. Later, Estevão will ponder the extremely middling American League landscape, and after the matinee, Jeremy will pay his respects to the late John Sterling with a tribute from the perspective of an aspiring broadcaster in his own right.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers

Time: 12:35 p.m. EST

Video: YES, Rangers Sports Network

Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

At the end of last week, Thomas Nestico made the following post and caught many Red Sox fans off guard:

Yes, that’s the Boston Red Sox up near the top of the teams leaderboard in Defensive Runs Saved, and you know what, I don’t think it’s a fluke.

Up until the last handful of days, the quality of the Red Sox defense has been easy to ignore for several reasons. They include, but are not limited to:

• The Red Sox leading the American League in errors during each of the last three seasons before 2026.
• The Red Sox starting off 2026 with the most errors in the AL again over the first couple of weeks (before really cleaning it up of late).
• The team’s dreadful 9-17 record over the first 26 games overshadowing any finer details.
• Roman Anthony getting the yips for the first few series of the year and having a few bad throws go viral.
• Caleb Durbin’s ice cold bat out of the gate obscuring the fact that this dude can really play some defense.

Understandably, the vibes weren’t great. But now we’re a week into May, and with the dust settling, the metrics under the hood don’t just look good, they look really, really good. So good in fact that if the Red Sox can get the top of this rotation healthy with Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray in the coming weeks, their whole run prevention philosophy just might pay dividends.

Let’s take a more detailed look at what these Defensive Runs Saved figures look like for the ten Red Sox players with the most defensive innings logged so far in 2026 (going into Wednesday night’s game):

Several things jump out here, so let’s take a quick trip around the diamond and understand how the Red Sox might be this good defensively.

First up (and most complex), Roman Anthony — because against all odds, I think the yips or whatever was going on with his throws earlier in the year are actually working to his advantage now. (God I love baseball!) His problem isn’t arm strength (that actually grades out as a weapon with an 89.9mph velocity average), his issue was either mechanical or in his head, leading to a handful of throws so bad they went viral.

However, Roman’s good throws are actually really good. So you’re left with a situation where teams saw the few horrendous throws earlier in the year and wanted to pick on him. But what they’ve actually done in the process is give him more opportunities to throw guys outs, and he’s taken advantage of that, with two assists in one series against the Blue Jays last week. You want a guy that’s impossible to scout against? I give you a left fielder who throws a 35 foot worm burner one week and then nails you from 200 feet away the next.

At the same time, Anthony also makes tremendous reads on the ball off the bat and takes very efficient routes when tracking down fly balls. So even though he’s not the fastest guy in the world and doesn’t make many flashy highlight plays with the leather, he gets to way more balls than you’d otherwise think at first glace. You know how he’s really good at reading a ball out of a pitcher’s hand and therefore knows how to work a bunch of walks at the plate? Well, that’s his superpower all over the diamond. His initial reads are so good that in just 65 career starts in the outfield over both the 2025 and 2026 seasons (37 in right and 35 in left) he’s already racked up a +13 Defensive Runs Saved total.

Is the metric overrating his defense some? Almost certainly yes! But when it comes to the question of whether he’s an above average defensive outfielder, it almost doesn’t matter because anybody who lands this far on the positive side of the spectrum in so few games is good. It’s just a matter of how good when all the details fill in over time. This is a big part of the reason why I was so concerned in early April when he started throwing the ball away. Anthony’s career ceiling is so much higher as an above average defensive outfield as opposed to getting pinned to DH.

Then we have Wilyer Abreu. In his case, we can just go straight to the video for from last night.

This is a prime example of how the Red Sox run prevention strategy can totally alter a game. They ended up pitching a shutout, but if this ball falls in, it’s at least 2-0 and probably 3-0 Detroit in just the second inning.

Great DRS numbers are one thing, but when you see it in practice, working to propel the team to wins on the field, it’s something to get extremely excited about. Abreu is getting it done.

Elsewhere, Caleb Durbin’s been fantastic defensively, and the more you see him work his glove magic, the more you realize it’s not a fluke. In fact, the biggest threat to losing his defense is his bat potentially being so terrible you just can’t afford to keep him in the lineup every day. However, he’s started to hit a tad more lately, and if that’s a sign of things to come, it again bodes well for the Red Sox defense long-term.

On the other infield corner, you have Willson Contreras, who has been as good as the Red Sox could have hoped for at the position. Even if he’s not going to be this good going forward, the former catcher again has enough innings at first base now to know you’re at least going to get some brand of plus defense here as well.

Then from there, you have what I think might be the most exciting part of the calculus. Ceddanne Rafaela and Marcelo Mayer haven’t even hit their defensive strides yet. We know how good Rafaela can be in center, and he hasn’t shown that yet in 2026. Mayer meanwhile can play anywhere in the infield and make it look smooth as butter. While his 2026 numbers don’t jump out in limited innings at second base yet, I’m confident that he’ll not only improve there, but that he’s also capable to taking the reigns from Trevor Story at shortstop at some point. If that happens, you then also potentially improve Trevor Story’s defense with a move to second base, where he was excellent in 2022.

In other words, so much of the momentum driving the Red Sox production in the Defensive Runs Saved department has been on the corners (Durbin, Contreras, Anthony and Abreu), but between Rafaela in center and a swap between Mayer and Story that feels like it needs to come at some point this season, the Red Sox can actually unlock a whole additional level of defense right up the middle of the diamond they haven’t really displayed yet.

Their defense isn’t just good; it has the chance to be above average everywhere. And the deeper we get into the season, the more this is going to matter as game-saving defensive plays are often contagious. If what’s going on under the hood is remotely real, it’s only a matter of time before the Red Sox start stealing a bunch of games with their gloves.

Good morning, baseball fans!

We are in the middle of a new feature for May that I’m calling the “12 Days of Mays-mas” because I won’t be around for this week, and I want to leave you guys with some fun things to watch while I’m gone.

For the seventh day of Mays-mas, I thought we would continue in our series of no-hitters and revisit Tim Lincecum’s first no-hitter against the San Diego Padres in 2013. This one was on the road, and it was a blood bath on both ends, with the Giants scoring nine runs and taking the stress off early and Lincecum himself dealing and crushing the hopes and dreams of Padres players hoping to not get embarrassed.

I know we revisit this one fairly often, but honestly can you ever really watch these too many times? (I will make an attempt to give it a good long rest before we do these again, I promise.)

In the meantime, grab your coffee, settle in, and enjoy!

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants are off today, but they will welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates to Oracle Park tomorrow to begin a three-game series.

Today’s Reflections

I was just wrapping up Cub Tracks for you good folks, checking for mistakes and broken links, giving the news feed one last refresh—

I (and probably a lot of Cub fans) feel like they are standing on the precipice of either the second World Series appearance in a decade (the Dodgers just moved to the AL, the Angels moved to the NL) ….. or utter devastation. Standing on that cliff, we look behind us and see an offense, mostly starting to click really well, foaming at the mouth, waiting for their chance to SMASH BASEBALL!

Then we look over the edge of the cliff and see the pitching staff — anybody that stands 10 inches above the height of home plate — and they are just ….. foaming, and decaying, period.

We turn back to the hitters and tell them:

Here’s an interesting quote from below: “This is the most unlucky and unfortunate injury-impacted season in recent Chicago Cubs memory”. Obviously, Mr. Cerami isn’t anywhere near old enough to recall 1985. This is where we call upon Al: Wrigley Field History, April 16, 1985:

Everything looked great for the Cubs that year, even into June; they won on June 11, running their record to 35-19, four games in first place. But then the starting pitchers began to get injured. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. All five starters — Sutcliffe, Eckersley, Scott Sanderson, Steve Trout and Dick Ruthven — spent time on the DL.

It’s not a mirror image and we still have Shota. And we’re used to a couple dozen bullpen injuries at a time. But, yeah. PLEASE be careful, Shōta! Let someone brush your teeth for you, for God’s sake! You, too, Colin Rea! I don’t want to see another 37 stories in a row about YOUR injury. Or xxxxx’s, or xxxxx’s, etc.

(Sigh) Let’s at least start the links with what yesterday was SUPPOSED to be about — recollection and celebration:

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• Jesse Rogers (ESPN): ‘What even is that pitch?’ An oral history of Kerry Wood’s 20-K day. “It was an otherwise nondescript day. In fact, it was a forgettable one.”
• Jordan Llanes (Clutch Points): Cubs’ Jed Hoyer preaches patience on big trades, but has team in position to strike. “Chicago Cubs president of baseball ops Jed Hoyer preaches patience when it comes to blockbuster trades yet has the team in position to strike.”
• Ryan O’Rourke (Cubbies Crib): Injury to huge potential Cubs trade target could change the equation at the deadline. “(Joe Ryan’s) imaging showed no structural damage in his elbow and he’s expected to make his next start, but you can bet the Twins – and any team with interest in shoring up the rotation this summer will be keeping a close eye on him.”

• Jordan Campbell (Cubbies Crib): Cubs hit with crippling surprise Matthew Boyd injury news (with bizarre origin story). “A meniscus trim would likely have Boyd back in the rotation by the end of July. A meniscus repair would sideline Boyd for the remainder of the season ….. No, it wasn’t anything Boyd was doing on the field that caused the injury. Instead, he was sitting down to play with his kids.”
• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): No, Freakin’ Way: Now Matthew Boyd Is Getting Surgery (UPDATE). “You have GOT to be kidding me. According to Taylor McGregor, Matthew Boyd is getting surgery on his meniscus (knee) and “will be out for the foreseeable future.” I don’t even know what to say, other than this seals it: This is the most unlucky and unfortunate injury-impacted season in recent Chicago Cubs memory.“
• Tommy Erbe (SportsNetOnTap): Chicago Cubs Trade Target Emerges In Wake Of Matthew Boyd News. “After the Chicago Cubs announced Matthew Boyd would be on the shelf for “foreseeable future,” a possible trade target has come forward.“

• Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball): How Ryan Rolison Explains the Universe (Kind of) (For Now). “The Cubs have won back-to-back games in walkoff fashion, and each time, the win has gone to an unlikely pitcher. Lefty reliever Ryan Rolison is an emergency fill-in for a bullpen with higher-octane arms. He’s also what makes the Cubs great in 2026, in microcosm.”
• Nick Hudson (SportsNetOnTap): Carson Kelly Proves Knowing The ABS Zone Is A Game Changer. “Chicago Cubs catcher Carson Kelly’s use of ABS is ridiculously good. The system is improving games and creating real momentum swings.”

• Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): Alex Bregman’s Power Is Coming Back and in a Really Encouraging Way. “In the first year of a $175M deal, yeah, we’re justified in expecting more. But here’s the thing, I actually do think that’s coming. In fact, it’s already started, and in a sustainable way.”
• N.B. Linberg (Fangraphs.com): Which Young Player Will Your Favorite MLB Team Extend Next? “Franchises have never been more aggressive in extending their top prospects. These are who could be next.”
• Steve Greenberg (Chicago Sun-Times{$}): Nico Hoerner, MVP of smoking-hot Cubs so far, has more and more people talking. “Given the Cubs’ 13-game Wrigley Field winning streak entering Wednesday, it seemed like a fine time to ask around about who is “the man” on a team with a long list of guys playing well.“
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Winning Is Fun, Which Means Cubs Baseball Is Very Fun Right Now. “It’s like experiencing the Platonic ideal of a chair, only to then be forced to go back and use highly imperfect recreations in perpetuity.”
• Max Ralph (MLB.com): Rojas, Cubs No. 4 prospect, hits 4th homer to continue strong Double-A start. “Jefferson Rojas had a shaky start to his time in Double-A as a 20-year-old last season. Now with another trip around the sun under his belt, the Cubs’ No. 4 prospect is raking at the level.”
• Tommy Erbe (SportsNetOnTap): Numbers Suggest Michael Busch Is Climbing Back Up To Normalcy. “Michael Busch is heating up offensively; the numbers prove it. When Busch is on, so too are the Chicago Cubs.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): With Wrigley Field rocking, the Cubs are setting the stage for a big trade deadline. “All things considered, the first-place Cubs (24-12) are in excellent shape.”
• Zachary Cariola (Sporting News): National League Central labeled one of the most ‘chaotic’ by MLB expert. “According to MLB.com’s Will Leitch, the National League Central is considered the third-most chaotic division in Major League Baseball, with a score of 7/10.”
• Randy Holt (North Side Baseball): Alex Bregman Has Been Fine for the Cubs So Far. Is ‘Fine’ Good Enough? “In many ways, Alex Bregman has been exactly who the Cubs thought he was when they signed him to a five-year deal this winter. In other ways, they’re still waiting for him to get going.”
• Nick Hudson (SportsNetOnTap.com): Carson Kelly Proves Knowing The ABS Zone Is A Game Changer. “Chicago Cubs catcher Carson Kelly’s use of ABS is ridiculously good. The system is improving games and creating real momentum swings.”

• Anthony Laurila (Fangraphs.com): Cubs Prospect Jonathon Long Has a Long Swing That Pairs Power and Contact. “Ranked 17th on our recently released 2026 Cubs Top Prospects list with a 40 FV, the 24-year-old first baseman has a profile that is promising, yet in some ways concerning.”
• Zachary Draves (ClutchPoints): What Pete Crow-Armstrong said about Michael Conforto’s clutch walk-off home run.

• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune {$}): Chicago Cubs’ Moisés Ballesteros is always on the attack: ‘He’s just incredibly confident’. “Moisés Ballesteros carries a mantra with him into the batter’s box.”
• Joe Maddon (The Athletic {$}): Joe Maddon: These are the 3 best leaders I managed in MLB. “In a dugout during the game, if someone screwed up on the field, I never had to walk down and tell the player on the bench.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic{$}): As Moisés Ballesteros navigates breakout season, Cubs have clear vision for rookie. “As yet another line drive rocketed off Moisés Ballesteros’ bat during spring training, Cubs manager Craig Counsell was business as usual as he turned to the club’s hitting coaches assembled in the dugout: We need to talk.”

Food For Thought:

Muddy Waters was, in many ways, the archetypal bluesman. He was raised as a sharecropper in the Mississippi Delta, where he learned to play an acoustic guitar. He went to Chicago in 1943, and the band he assembled established the electric blues sound. Over the next three and a half-decades, his band became a springboard for many of his sidemen, launching a prominent school of blues performers.

Muddy Waters was born McKinley A. Morganfield on April 4, 1913 at a small enclave in Issaquena County, Mississippi known as Jug’s Corner. Muddy usually cited Rolling Fork as his home. The area, near the Mississippi River, was wet, and his grandmother nicknamed him because of the mud puddles in which he played. Muddy’s mother died when he was very young, and her mother raised him. She moved north to the Stovall Plantation outside of Clarksdale before Muddy was three years old. He stayed there, for the most part, until he was thirty years old.

Animal rescuers in British Columbia came to the rescue of a blue heron that turned out to have a talon stuck inside a giant oyster’s shell. The Dewdney Animal Hospital in Maple Ridge shared a video explaining rescuers responded Saturday to a report of a blue heron that appeared to have its leg caught between rocks in the water off Vancouver’s Stanley Park. The rescuers arrived to find the rocks in question were actually the two halves of a giant oyster’s shell.The post joked that the oyster “got shellfish and clammed up, which really shucked.”

The bird and the oyster attached to its toe were taken to the animal hospital to be separated. Veterinarian Adrian Walton injected fish anesthetic into the oyster’s shell and was then able to pry the shell open and release the heron’s talon. The heron suffered some torn ligaments, so it was fit with a splint and transferred to the Wildlife Rescue Association of British Columbia for rehabilitation. (VIDEO)

7 Travel Destinations for 2026 Nobody’s Talking About (VIDEO)

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.

Joey Cantillo, Austin Hedges stealing multiple bases, and a very timely challenge were the magic recipe for a victory over the Kansas City Royals. Nick has the Game 3 recap here. First pitch for Game 4 is today at 2:10PM EDT.

As Hedges continues to have a successful start to the season, many can’t help but look at Bo Naylor’s lackluster start. Quincy took a look at Bo Naylor’s offense yesterday to break down his stats.

With the Guardians win last night, Cleveland remains in first place of the AL Central and returned to .500. The Detroit Tigers are 1.0 games back from the Guardians. The New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays are the only team in the American League above .500. The Cleveland Guardians and Athletics are the only other teams in the AL at .500.

Around the League

The Tigers are having a rough go of things. Framber Valdez was suspended for 6 games (1-2 starts) for hitting Trevor Story. A.J. Hinch was suspended for a game for the same altercation. On top of the suspensions and recent injuries, the Tigers fired their AAA manager due to an inappropriate text message sent to a female colleague.

Matthew Boyd injured his left meniscus and will require surgery.

Carlos Correa will miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury. No, not that ankle, the other ankle.