The Dodgers' Tyler Glasnow looks away as the Miami Marlins' Liam Hicks rounds third base after hitting a solo home run in the second inning Wednesday. (Scott Strazzante / Associated Press)
Wednesday was getaway day for Dodgers, so before the final game of the team’s brief six-game homestand suitcases were lined up outside the clubhouse and equipment bags in various states of packing were strewn about the floor of the locker room.
And while few places have been sweeter than home for the Dodgers over the past two seasons, the team may be happy to get out of town after falling 3-2 to the Miami Marlins.
The loss before a sun-splashed matinee crowd marked the first time the Dodgers have lost consecutive games at home since last fall’s World Series. Of more concern is the fact the Dodgers scored just three times in the two games, going four for 17 with men in scoring position and leaving 16 runners on base in the two contests.
The Dodgers still lead the majors in home wins with 12 and have the best home ERA in baseball. On the road, meanwhile, the team ERA is nearly a run a game higher and the Dodgers’ record isn’t even the best in their own division.
For Tyler Glasnow, the results have been just the opposite. The right-hander was unbeaten in three starts on the road, where he has been nearly unhittable, and winless in his first two at home, where he struggled.
And while he didn’t get a decision Wednesday his performance on a brilliant cloudless afternoon was his best of the season at Dodger Stadium, with Glasnow scattering three hits and striking out nine in 5 2/3 innings. Two of the hits were solo home runs, however, so he left trailing 2-1.
Liam Hicks opened the scoring for Miami, driving Glasnow’s first pitch of the second inning into the lower stands just inside the right-field foul pole for his seventh home run of the season. The run was the first Glasnow had given up in his last 12 innings and the right-hander didn’t allow another hit until the fifth, when former teammate Esteury Ruiz hits his first homer of the season into the first row of the left-field pavilion.
In between, the Dodgers accepted a gift run with Max Muncy starting the second with a double off the glove of center fielder Jakob Marsee, then scoring two outs later when shortstop Otto Lopez lost Alex Call’s popup in the bright midday sky.
The Dodgers had Miami starter Sandy Alcantara on the ropes most of the afternoon, putting runners on in five of the six innings he pitched. But aside from the tainted run in the second, they couldn’t break through against the right-hander until the sixth.
Kyle Tucker led off that inning with a double to right-center, moved to third on a ground out, then scored on Dalton Rushing’s two-strike single to right. But Alcantara escaped the jam when Alex Freeland to bounced to second with two runners on.
After that, it became a battle of the bullpens — a battle the Marlins won when Javier Sanoja blopped a two-out single to shallow right off reliever Will Klein in the eighth, scoring Xavier Edwards with the winning run.
The Dodgers had a chance to that back in the bottom of the ninth when right-hander Calvin Faucher walked the first two batters he faced. After a sacrifice, Faucher walked Shohei Ohtani intentionally to load the bases but Freddie Freeman hit into an unassisted double play.
CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 22: Steven Kwan (38) of the Cleveland Guardians looks on during an MLB game against the Houston Astros on April 22, 2026 at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
In our unofficial series “What’s wrong with a variety of Guardians’ hitters”, let us examine the strange case of Steven Kwan.
From Opening Day 2022 to May 31st, 2025, Steven Kwan put up a 119 wRC+ with a 9.7/9.4 K/BB%, a .182 ISO,a .310 BABIP and a .328 xwOBA. From June 1st, 2025 to today, Kwan has managed a 79 wRC+ with a 9.2/8.9 K/BB%, a .084 ISO and a .254 BABIP, his xwOBA dropping to .282. A 34% decline in production is, obviously, the difference between a valuable major league hitter and a player who isn’t capable of helping a big league offense.
To begin at some more surface level metrics, Kwan has gone from a 22.1 hard-hit rate to a 17.9% hard-hit rate The rest of his batted-ball metrics look virtually unchanged. Kwan hasn’t hit the ball hard at high rate in the first three years of his career, so he could ill afford a noticeable drop in that area, but 4% decline there doesn’t explain 33% loss of production.
Let’s continue investigating. I next looked at specific pitches and uncovered something of interest. Over the past 700 or so plate appearances, Kwan has a -10.1 run value against fastballs, -2.5 run value against cutters and -1.9 run value against sinkers, compared to his first three and half seasons where he ran a 14.1+ run value against fastballs, a 1.7 run value against cutters and a -2.3 run value against sinkers. So, Kwan is now a bad hitter because he went from hitting four-seam fastballs well and cutters decently to not being able to hit either pitch at all.
Why has this occurred? My next point of investigation went to examining if hitters are attacking Kwan differently and, here, we seem to have an answer. When looking at the percentages of pitches Kwan sees on the inner third of the plate and further inside, here’s what we are seeing:
Kwan is seeing more pitches in this portion of the hitting zone than he ever has and performing significantly worse against them than he ever has. Similar numbers emerge when we look at four-seamers and cutters in this hitting zone:
One thing that seems abundantly clear – 2024 Kwan was likely an outlier. He is probably something a lot more similar to a league average hitter that he’s mostly been outside of that season. Combined with excellent left field defense, this would still be likely a 3 win player. But, the question is whether or not Kwan can get back to league average, as an 80 wRC+ will not play even with gold-glove defense in left field (should the Guardians return Kwan to that spot, or average defense in center).
Why is the decline happening against pitches in the inside part of the plate? I do think part of the answer is luck. Kwan’s xwOBA’s indicate he should be performing better than he is, especially against fastballs and cutters. However, he has definitely lost some slugging ability, especially over the inside of the plate. Here’s where we enter the area of speculation. Kwan sustained a wrist injury somewhere in the middle of last season. Is it possible his wrist has not fully recovered its strength and he simply lacks the ability to get the limited oomph he managed to get on those pitches in the past? Is this, when it comes down to it, mostly bad batted ball luck that will eventually even out?
In the days to come, I would monitor whether or not teams continue to throw mostly inside to Kwan, specifically with four-seamers. If Kwan cannot turn around on those pitches with any sort of regularity, more and more pitchers will look to exploit that weakness. If this is mostly a luck issue, chances are that Kwan’s ability to make contact and still manage a 14-20% hard hit rate will eventually get him back to more of a .310-.320 wOBA. If this is a wrist strength issue, his wrist will either regain strength and get him back some of his lost power, or it will continue to plague him. In any case, I suspect we are at the beginning of teams pounding Kwan inside and daring him to make them pay.
For Kwan, the only way out is through. He needs to continue to execute a good eye at the plate, make elite contact, and try to pull inside pitches and slap outside pitches. Time will tell if there is a course correction coming or if his lack of elite bat speed and raw power makes him a below average hitter easily exploitable by four-seamers and cutters. Today, Kwan looked more like his old self, so let’s hope it is the beginning of a turn around.
Note: Thank you to Matt Seese for his help sorting through some data queries for this article.
GLOSSARY:
wOBA – OPS adjusted for the run-scoring weight of each batter-produced event. .320 is roughly equivalent to league average.
xwOBA – this is the wOBA number adjusted for the results we would expect given a hitter’s exit velocity and launch angle
Apr 29, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) gestures to a fan before the start pf the second inning against the Boston Red Sox at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Red Sox 1 Blue Jays 8
That turned into a surprisingly comfortable win.
I didn’t think Eric Lauer looked great today, lots of deep fly balls finding gloves, but he only allowed one run in his 4.1 innings, on a Willson (who puts two L’s in Wilson?) Contreras home run. He gave up 5 hits, with 1 walk and 1 strikeout.
He came out in the fifth, after giving up three one-out singles. He wasn’t happy coming out, I could read his lips and he said ‘bull’ something when coming off the mound. I was on John’s side. Eric seemed to be getting a lot of fly balls, we didn’t need one to become a grand slam, and make a game out of this.
Braydon Fisher came in and got a line out to short that became a double play with a throw to second. The runner on second did come off the bag too far, but I don’t think it would have mattered if he stayed closer. Fisher pitched the sixth as well, getting five outs, with just one hit against and a strikeout.
Tommy Nance got the first two outs of the seventh, giving up a single and John took him out to have Joe Mantiply come in to face the lefty Roman Anthony. I guess we have to use our quota of relievers in every game, but, up six, I’d have left Nance in.
Spencer Miles pitched the eighth and loaded the bases with one out, but got out of it with the help of a pretty nice play by Okamoto. He came back out for the ninth (good job, John) and had a cleaning inning.
We had a pretty good game with the bats. We scored:
Three in the third: Singles from Brandon Valenzuela, Jesús Sánchez and Vladimir Guerrero loaded the bases with singles. Kazuma Okomoto singled home two. A walk to Daulton Varsho loaded the bases again. Yohendrick Pinango singled home Vlad. Okamoto tried to score but was out at the plate. I was ok with the send with two outs. It was pretty close, but Kazuma isn’t fast.
Two in the fourth: Valenzuela walked and Ernie Clement hit his first home run of the season.
Two in the fifth: Vlad started it off with a single. An out later, Varsho was hit by pitch. And then George Springer, pinch-hitting, singled in Vlad. Myles Straw followed with a sac fly.
One in the eighth: Valenzuela homered.
Vlad had another good day with the bat, going 3 for 3 with a walk, raising his average to .358. More homers would be nice, but that seems like nit picking. Valenzuela had two hits, single and homer, with a walk.
Clement, Sánchez, Okomoto, Varsho, Pinango, Springer, and Valenzuela had a hit each.
Ernie Clement made an excellent play, in the fourth inning, making a nice pickup of a ball on the third base side of second and then made very nice one hop throw to first, ending the inning. And Valenzuela challenged three pitches, called balls, and got them overturned. One was just at the time of the zone, the other was easily inside the zone. Good job Brandon. Valenzuela also had a nice play on a ‘swinging bunt’ that ended up just in front of getting to the ball and not rushing the throw to first. He looked very relaxed. He impressed me, I’d rather he get most of the playing time until Alejandro Kirk comes back.
Jays of the Day go to: Okamoto (.17 WPA) and Fisher (.13). I’ll give honourable mention to Clement (homer and nice defensive play), Valenzuela (single, homer, walk and three successful challenges) and Vlad (for the 3 for 3).
No one had the number for the ‘Other Award’. Giménez had the low mark at -0.4.
Speaking of not being happy about being taken out, Brayan Bello came out of the game with 2 out in the fourth after giving up a walk and Bello was not happy to be pulled. When Clement homered a few seconds later, he was even less happy. But he really didn’t pitch great, 3.2 innings, 6 hits, 4 earned (one after he left the game), 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.
Tomorrow the Jays are in Minnesota to play the Twins. Kevin Gausman (2.57) vs. Bailey Ober (3.94).
TORONTO, CANADA - APRIL 29: Ernie Clement #22 and Jesús Sánchez #12 of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrate Clement's two-run home run to score in Brandon Valenzuela #59 in the fourth inning of their MLB game against the Boston Red Sox at Rogers Centre on April 29, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Red Sox have lost the quick-flash momentum of the managerial change already.
Chad Tracy fell to 2-2 as the interim after another poor starting pitching outing and insufficient run production. Boston failed to lock up a pair of series wins against division opponents, as the Blue Jays earned the advantage of this three-game set.
Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s series finale.
BAD BELLO (AGAIN)
The right-hander looked refreshed through two innings before another early unraveling. The Blue Jays sent eight hitters to the plate in the third inning as Bello allowed three runs on five hits and zipped a wild pitch.
Bello failed to finish four innings and disagreed with Tracy’s early hook with visible frustration on the mound.
When the rotation gets healthy, the status of Bello’s spot will be a real conversation for the Red Sox.
SOLO POWER
The Red Sox as a team still don’t hit enough home runs as a team. Luckily, Willson Contreras doesn’t subscribe to that MO.
Boston’s first baseman tattooed a solo shot off Eric Lauer in the first inning in a fast start for the lineup.
The rest of the group failed to follow his lead. Not to say they didn’t have chances. The Red Sox tallied nine hits, but left an incomprehensible 19 RUNNERS on base.
The offense isn’t good enough to overcome that level of missed opportunity.
SPLITS AGAIN
The Red Sox fell to 7-11 on the road, though they went .500 on each of the last six-game trips.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 23: Logan Webb #62 of the San Francisco Giants pitches during the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oracle Park on April 23, 2026 in San Francisco, California. The Dodgers defeated the Giants 3-0. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The San Francisco Giants continue this three-game road series against the Philadelphia Phillies this afternoon.
Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Logan Webb, who enters today’s game with a 4.86 ERA, 3.32 FIP, with 32 strikeouts to 13 walks in 37 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last Thursday, in which he allowed three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks in seven innings.
He’ll be facing off against Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez, who enters today’s game with a 2.94 ERA, 2.62 FIP, with 43 strikeouts to 10 walks in 33.2 innings pitched. His last start was in the Phillies’ 8-7 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday, in which he allowed six runs on 12 hits with four strikeouts and two walks in five and a third innings.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 29: Elmer Rodriguez #71 of the New York Yankees walks to the dugout during the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on April 29, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) | Getty Images
MLB debuts aren’t always sunshine and rainbows, and expectations should always be tempered when a young player is suddenly donning a major league uniform. Cam Schlittler’s electric debut last season is a rarity, not an expectation.
Elmer Rodríguez held the Texas Rangers off the scoreboard for the first four innings, but his inability to throw enough strikes eventually bit him in the fifth, resulting in the Rangers taking a lead they would not relinquish. It didn’t help that the offense was shut out for just the second time this season, allowing Nathan Eovaldi to throw his best start of the year in a 3-0 defeat to close out a 7-2 road trip.
It was a clean start for Eovaldi, who pitched around a one-out single by Ben Rice to sit down the top of the order in the first. For Rodríguez, he struggled with command, walking a pair, but perfectly located a 3-2 pitch to Josh Jung for what turned into a strike-em-out-throw-em-out for his first MLB strikeout in a scoreless first.
A weird throwing error by Jake Burger (which should’ve been charged to Eovaldi) allowed Jasson Domínguez to reach in the second, but he was stranded. Rodríguez gave up a two-out single to Kyle Higashioka, walked Alejandro Osuna, and allowed a single to Ezequiel Duran to suddenly load the bags in a long second inning, but he survived by getting Brandon Nimmo to fly out.
The two pitchers exchanged 1-2-3 innings in the third before the Yankees finally got multiple baserunners against Eovaldi in the fourth on a single by Cody Bellinger and a hit-by-pitch that wound up taking Domínguez out of the game with an apparent left elbow injury. J.C. Escarra got a chance to break the tie with two out, but grounded out to first.
Another 1-2-3 inning seemed to be settling things down for Rodríguez in the fourth, but things fell apart in the fifth. He plunked Osuna and walked Duran, putting the eight and nine hitters on base. Nimmo reached on an infield single that deflected off the glove of Rice to load the bases, and this time, the rookie couldn’t get out of it. A two-run single by Jung knocked him out of the game and gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead.
There’s a lot to unpack from this start for ERC (yes, he still likes being called that). He’s not some control wizard, but he’s generally regarded as being a strike thrower, but he was just a tick off today, missing all around the plate. He couldn’t get ahead enough to throw his curveball and slider in two-strike counts and leaned much more on his four-seamer than usual. It wasn’t a good start, but you can see why they’d rather throw him out there than Luis Gil.
Brent Headrick, whose elbow must be made of vibranium, was able to put out the rest of the fire behind Rodríguez, striking out Seager, getting a forceout out of Joc Pederson, and inducing a long flyout of Jake Burger. Nimmo seemed to have pulled a hamstring running to third on the Pederson grounder and was removed from the game.
Rice led off the sixth with a single off Eovaldi, but was erased by a line drive double play by Bellinger. The scorcher went 107.8 mph off the bat and had a .690 xBA. Not fun! Headrick and Jake Bird combined to get through the bottom half, 1-2-3.
Max Schuemann drew a walk against Eovaldi in his first Yankee plate appearance, and both he and Escarra (who had a hard lineout) both worked lengthy at-bats to drive up the pitch count of the two-time All-Star, but he finished off seven shutout innings in yet another strong start against the Yankees.
Bird stayed in after the seventh-inning stretch, and Duran greeted him with a double down the left-field line. Sam Haggerty, an underrated Yankee killer, lined an RBI single after two failed bunt attempts to make it 3-0. Tim Hill replaced Bird and continued to be a ground ball monster, inducing an inning-ending double play.
Jacob Latz was tasked with throwing the last two innings for the Rangers. Aside from another hit for Rice, he did the job to avoid the sweep for the home team. Rodríguez is saddled with the loss in his major league debut, the first Yankee to do so since Randy Vasquez on May 26, 2023.
After a Thursday off-day, the Yankees return home to begin a three-game set with the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on Friday at 7:05 on YES. It’s Will Warren against a pitcher to be determined for the O’s.
Apr 22, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano (11) watches as a ball slowly rolls foul during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images
Yesterday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds was a lot closer than the score would indicate. The Reds didn’t bust the scoring open until very late in the day, and the Colorado Rockies had plenty of opportunities to score. The problem was that the Rockies didn’t capitalize on those opportunities.
This evening the Rockies are once again in the Queen City and it’s delightful Great American Ballpark, looking to bounce back after their three-game winning streak was brought to an end. The Rockies also have a nice and fresh bullpen after Monday’s off-day and only using two total pitchers yesterday.
Making his sixth start for the Rockies is right-handed pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano 菅野 智之. Without being flashy, Sugano has quietly been one of the Rockies’ best starting pitchers so far this season. Through his first five starts he carries an ERA of just 3.42 over 26.1 innings. He’s given up more than two earned runs just once an has issued only six walks to 19 strikeouts.
On the bump for the Redlegs is left-handed pitcher Brandon Williamson, who has made five starts so far this season after missing the entirety of 2025 due to Tommy John surgery. Williamson enters today’s game with a 5.40 ERA over 25 innings. Where the Rockies will need to capitalize is with long, patient at-bats. Williamson has issued 16 walks to just 15 strikeouts this season with four home runs allowed as he works on finding his footing.
The Rockies have seen Williamson twice before, where he holds a 3.38 ERA over 10.2 innings with two home runs allowed and 11 strikeouts. His primary pitch this season is a cutter that sits in the high 80s. He backs that up with a changeup he uses to get whiffs. Williamson also throws a sinker and a four-seam fastball—both in the low 90s—a curveball, and a sweeper.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 23: Bubba Chandler #36 of the Pittsburgh Pirates delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on April 23, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Pitching Matchup: Andre Pallante (2-2, 4.26 ERA) vs. Bubba Chandler (1-2. 4.88 ERA)
The Pittsburgh Pirates are at home hosting the St. Louis Cardinals this evening at beautiful PNC Park.
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JUNE 28: Willy Adames #2 of the San Francisco Giants tosses a bat after striking out to end the fourth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on June 28, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The San Francisco Giants are on pace to end the month of April with either the fewest walks over the team’s first 30 games in 125 years or 108 years. Only twice have the Giants started a season with 65 or fewer in games 1-30: 1901 (60 BB) & 1918 (65 BB). After last night’s disastrous 2-hit, 12-strikeout, zero walks performance by the dismal lineup, the Giants have just 58 walks to go with their 97 runs scored — both the lowest totals in the sport.
The only possible explanation is that walks are a joke to the Giants. What sort of insults do you think they sling at walks? I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say they know better than to invoke some sort of antiquated slur. So, what’s left? “Walks are dumb”? “Walks are cringe”? “Woke”? It’s clear something’s afoot, because at this point last season, the team was right around 9%. This year’s roster isn’t substantially different.
It’s clear that the organization’s emphasis on contact is having a somewhat profound influence on a crucial component to scoring runs: the base on balls. Outside of all those intentional walks to Barry Bonds and the Farhan Zaidi era of the front office, the “walks are good” era of baseball as made mainstream by Moneyball has been vigorously rejected in San Francisco, by the fans and the front office alike. With the help of the ABS Challenge System, the league’s walk rate is the highest it’s been since 1951 at 3.69 BB/9 (9.6 BB%). The Giants are 30th in MLB by nearly 2% at 5.6%.
“Walks are washed”?
Only 56 teams in MLB history of recorded 65 walks or fewer in their first 30 games of a season and only five of those instances have come in the 21st century: the World Champion 2015 Royals, the 2015 Rockies (68-94), the 2010 Astros (76-86), the 2008 Twins (88-75), and the 2006 Angels (89-73). Prior to this group, the last MLB team to do this was Cleveland in 1990 (77-85). And before that it was in 1968. So, this is a somewhat rare feat, and it a lot about the sport has changed since it last happened: Statcast, balanced schedule, universal DH, and now ABS.
“Walks give the ick”?
Is it just a front office edict that’s causing this or is it personnel? Well, maybe it’s a bit of both. As Andrew Baggarly pointed out this morning in a post for The Athletic about the team’s worrying walk rate:
No team is seeing a higher percentage of pitches in the strike zone. When pitchers face the Giants’ lineup, the fear factor just hasn’t been there.
Hard to walk if pitchers are staying inside the strike zone.
And maybe that’s the one simple tricks staffs are using to subdue the Giants, because the walk rates for the core of the lineup are way down despite seeing plenty of strikes:
Matt Chapman: 10.8 career BB%, 2026: 9.0% | 50.3% career pitches in strike zone percentage, 2026: 49.7%
Hmm, maybe it’s better to take the Baggarly comment this way: for a roster of players who have, historically, tended to see a lot of pitches in the strike zone, they’re not doing very much damage with that situation here in the first month of the season.
I would argue that’s because the team has virtually dropped the walk from their game and because I’m a fabulist and not a journalist, I’m pitching that the reason for this is because of an ideological bent bordering on hostile. The statistical case for the walk is straightforward. Unfortunately, my statvestigation wasn’t thorough enough and so I’ll pull from this 2019 article that shows that, although a walk is not as good as a single, its correlation with run scoring is meaningful.
The post also goes into the psychological/perceptive value of singles over the walk. Singles tend to signal to people that the hitter is good whereas a walk indicates a flaw in a pitcher. There’s also the whole thing about how walks don’t drive in runs unless the bases are loaded. We can also probably extend this thought to a cynical conception of player valuation. If walks are less valuable, then walks are cheaper, which explains why the efficiencymeisters who have made cheap baseball “real baseball” here in the last 20 years. Though, to be fair, if you’re trying to make player spending more efficient, the guy who walks and hits home runs is financially more reasonable than the guy who gets a lot of hits and walks and homers. So, yes, the obsession with Three True Outcomes is because it’s cheaper.
“Walks are trash”?
Aha! You might say. Here’s proof that the Giants’ strategy is sound. They are spending money on hitters who have value because they get hits. Except, well, it takes a lot of Luis Arraezes to make that strategy work, and entirely discounting the walk looks foolish even on paper. I mentioned this a few weeks ago, and I’ll reiterate:
Still, it’s a little alarming that the Giants have dipped so far below not only [the league average] but their own lineup average since 2022 […] Still not convinced walk rates matter? Some additional information: During the championship era, the 2010, 2012, and 2014 teams posted walk rates of 7.9%, 7.8%, and 7%.
It’s the second-most likely outcome according to this chart, and Oracle Park is pretty good at suppressing home runs — offense in general — so, you might as well look at the complete picture rather than dismiss the walk out of hand. What good reason is there to avoid it?
San Francisco drew 10 walks from the Dodgers’ pitching staff but only collected one hit, finishing 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and leaving nine runners on base. It was the first time the Giants tallied at least 10 walks at Dodger Stadium since July 19, 2002, though that game lasted 12 innings.
OK, but at the end of the day, a walk is just another way of avoiding an out. The longer a lineup can go without making an out, the greater the odds some runs will be scored. The prevailing wisdom with contact and batting average is that “if the bats can just get going then the lineup will start clicking.” Sure, but in the meantime, why not cool it with chasing pitches outside the zone? Tony Vitello seems to be coming around on the idea. He told the press on Sunday:
“It’s not about going up there trying to walk,” he explained. “But it’s hard to get your best swing off on a pitch that’s not in the zone.”
This is just the plainspeak way of saying “swing decisions,” which was a phrase that got used a lot by the previous front office and became an exhibit in the anti-stats sect of Giants fandom’s case against “analytics.” It seems like common sense to swing at good pitches and layoff bad pitches, but when the word on high is to make contact, I wonder if that decision-making gets cross-wired in such a way that it leads to mistakes.
Anyway, the Giants are on course for some more bad history and it’s only April. I’m sure this will be a big ol’ nothingburger to those who never thought much of walks in the first place, though, because walks are dumb and bad, right?
Looking south at Red Table Mountain and Mount Sopris in the Maroon Bells - Snowmass Wilderness area of the Elk Mountains range during a fly-over of the Hidden Gems Wilderness Areas in Eagle and Summit County, CO. Red Table is part of a proposed wilderness expansion under the Hidden Gems proposal. (Craig F. Walker / The Denver Post) (Photo By Craig F. Walker/The Denver Post via Getty Images) | Denver Post via Getty Images
Today’s date is April 29th, and the Cincinnati Reds already have a chance to move 10 games over .500. TEN GAMES!
To do so, they’ll need to once again get past the Colorado Rockies, whom they felled yesterday by the score of 7-2 on the backs of Elly De La Cruz and Chase Burns. Tonight, they’ll be leaning on lefty Brandon Williamson on the mound as he looks to kick his most recent run of form (9 ER and an ugly 13 walks against just 8 strikeouts in 13.2 IP in his last trio of starts).
It will be 36 year old righty Tomoyuki Sugano on the bump for Colorado tonight, and the Reds have moved back to their regular lineup after last night’s start against veteran left-hander Kyle Freeland. TJ Friedl will lead off, JJ Bleday gets his second start in the outfield, and today’s catcher will be Jose Trevino.
First pitch is set for 6:40 PM ET. Lineups for both clubs are listed below.
The Yankees' bats were nonexistent on Wednesday afternoon, managing just five hits in a 3-0 loss to the Texas Rangers.
Here are the takeaways...
-- Making his major league debut, Yankees No. 3 prospect Elmer Rodríguez was solid through four-plus innings of work, allowing two runs on four hits with three strikeouts.
He issued a leadoff walk to Brandon Nimmo, but got some help from catcher J.C. Escarra on a strikeout double play, catching Nimmo trying to steal. Rodríguez retired the next three batters into the second inning, but then found himself in a two-out, bases loaded jam. Luckily, he escaped damage by getting Nimmo to line out. Rodríguez then got comfortable and breezed through the third and fourth innings, recording six straight outs.
Things took a turn in the fifth inning as he plunked the leadoff man, walked the second hitter, and let up a single to Nimmo to load the bases. The Rangers finally got to Rodríguez with Josh Jung making it a 2-0 game on a single and ending his day on the mound. Overall, he threw 80 pitches, but only 42 strikes.
-- Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi shut down the New York bats all afternoon, allowing just four hits over seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and a walk. He forced the Yanks into six groundouts, three flyouts, and two double plays.
-- Playing in just his third game this season, Jasson Dominguez left the game in the fourth inning after getting hit by Eovaldi in the elbow. Dominguez looked to be in pain and stayed in to run the bases, but was replaced in the bottom of the inning on defense by Max Schuemann. Dominguez was playing his first game in LF after serving as DH in the previous two contests.
-- Brent Headrick came in for relief after Rodríguez's day was done and found a way to get out of trouble. He struck out Corey Seager, got Joc Pederson to ground into a forceout, and made Jake Burger flyout. Headrick recorded the first out of the sixth inning and was then replaced by Jake Bird, who got the next two outs to keep it a 2-0 game.
--After allowing a leadoff double to Ezequiel Duran in the seventh inning, Bird let up an RBI single to Sam Haggerty as the Rangers took a 3-0 lead. Tim Hill came in with one out and got an inning-ending double play.
-- Ben Rice finished with three of the team's five hits, going 3-for-4 in the loss. Cody Bellinger and Jose Caballero picked up the other two hits.
Game MVP: Nathan Eovaldi
The Yanks had no answer for Eovaldi's stuff on Wednesday afternoon.
Highlights
How about a strike 'em out, throw 'em out play for Elmer's first outs in the Bigs 👏 pic.twitter.com/cVHeyjt3Ac
Apr 29, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) pitches against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
The Texas Rangers scored three runs while the New York Yankees scored zero runs.
Usually an MLB debut goes one of two ways for a starting pitcher. Either the nerves get to them and they’re sent to the showers early with a massive ERA that they have the rest of their career to shave down or they befuddle a lineup that has never seen them as their flown-in parents cry in the stands witnessing their son’s dreams come true.
For New York’s debuting 22-year-old Elmer Rodriguez, he somehow kind of managed both ends of the spectrum. A little wild early, Rodriguez wiggled out of a couple of jams perhaps thanks to the courtesy of getting to debut against the RISP bewitched Rangers at The Shed.
But then he settled in for a couple of threatless innings before, in the bottom of the fifth in a scoreless game, wildness cropped up again and the Rangers loaded the bases with a HBP, walk, and infield single with no one out.
Now, usually that’s still an advantageous position for a pitcher against Texas but unfortunately for Rodriguez — but fortunately for you, me, and the Rangers — the wrong guy was coming up.
With the bags packed, Josh Jung stepped in and there was nowhere to put him. As has often been the case in April, Jung won the battle and his single drove in two runs for what might have been Texas’ first hit with the bases loaded in the last three years for all I know.
No, the Rangers didn’t follow that up with a big inning. That hit produced the only runs that they scored in the frame. But two runs felt like twenty. The Rangers added a third run in the bottom of the seventh when Ezequiel Duran doubled and Sam Haggerty singled him in after earlier failing to bunt him over.
The Rangers went 4-for-8 with RISP, and even though only two of those hits actually scored runs, those were all that they needed with the arms holding the Yankees off the board. The win allows Texas to finish their homestand on a positive note at just a game out of .500.
Player of the Game: Nathan Eovaldi accomplished goal No. 1 by not allowing a first inning run to put the Rangers behind the eight ball early, as had been the case often throughout this homestand.
With that achievement unlocked, Eovaldi shoved over his 102-pitch stint going seven much-needed innings of shutout ball on four hits and a walk with seven strikeouts against the team atop the standings in the American League.
Up Next: The Rangers will take the day off tomorrow before opening up a series in Detroit beginning on Friday.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - APRIL 29: Gavin Williams #32 of the Cleveland Guardians throws a pitch during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field on April 29, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Gavin Williams was magnificent today. He recorded 23 outs, giving up 1 (unearned) run and striking out *9* Rays. It was one of his best outings. The sole run allowed came after Bazzana threw a double play ball down the third base line (the video evidence of which I will be leaving out of this article). Gavin had everything working for him today.
He was throwing everything in the zone, and managed to only walk one batter on a HBP. Unfortunately, Statcast went down around the 5th inning, so all data recorded after that is, at least for now, unavailable. ABS was also down, which is weird to see now that I’ve gotten used to having it. Anyway, Gavin was fantastic. A true “ace” start for him.
The offense was better today, but I can always find ways to complain. They had the bases loaded in the 3rd, but managed to only record 1 run off a Kyle Manzardo sacrifice fly. But, in the 5th, Rocchio led off the inning with an infield single. Kwan followed that up with an *100.4* mph double down the first base line. DeLauter, with the infield brought in, hit a ground ball back up the middle that scored both Rocchio and Kwan.
(Naturally, DeLauter goes 2/3 with a walk and 2 RBI the day I publish an article talking about his struggles). DeLauter is riding a 5-game hit streak during which he’s slashing .438/.471/.500. You’d like to see more power, but seeing the results come in will hopefully spur some more slug.
Gavin was pulled in the 8th after two consecutive two-out singles. Sabrowski was brought on in relief, and struck out Aranda to end the inning. Cade came on to pitch a scoreless 9th, striking out 2 Rays.
The Guardians play the Athletics this weekend. It’ll be Cantillo-Cecconi-Messick.
Colson Montgomery delivers his first career walk-off, lifting the Sox to a 3-2 win and a sweep of the Angels. | (Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images)
If this felt like a game the White Sox had no business winning, that’s because for most of the afternoon, they didn’t. And then, in the end, they did anyway.
The Good Guys walked it off in extras, 3-2, completing the sweep of the Angels. Chicago finished the month with 13 wins. That’s not exactly cause for a parade, but it is their best April since 2021.
This afternoon’s victory wasn’t pretty, but it was resilient, and that was enough.
The offensive story for the first nine innings was simple: a lot of traffic, but no destination. The South Siders had no problem getting runners on base with seven hits and seven walks against Angels pitching, especially after Yusei Kikuchi exited early due to injury. They just couldn’t execute in the clutch.
They managed to scratch across their first run in the third. Chase Meidroth doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Miguel Vargas single. That should’ve been the start of something. Instead, it was a one-off. Munetaka Murakami walked, but Austin Hays hit into a double play, and Colson Montgomery lifted a fly ball out — opportunity gone.
The sixth inning was worse. Murakami walked again, Hays singled, then immediately got picked off thanks to a heads-up throw from Jorge Soler. Then, Montgomery hit a grounder that turned into a play at the plate, with Adam Frazier and Travis d’Arnaud combining to cut Murakami down. Will Venable challenged, hoping for a blocking-the-plate call. No luck. Call stands. Inning over.
By the seventh, it felt like the script was written. Walks from Jarred Kelenic and Antonacci went nowhere. Meidroth and Vargas couldn’t move them over. Another inning, another shrug.
Even in the eighth, facing a reliever with a 5.40 ERA, the Sox made Ryan Zeferjahn look like peak Mariano Rivera, striking out the side.
Down to their last outs in the ninth, it looked like more of the same, but the Good Guys had something left in the tank.
Tristan Peters wore a pitch. Kelenic struck out. Antonacci stepped in and ripped a triple down the right field line, scoring Peters and tying the game. Suddenly, life.
They couldn’t finish it there, of course. That would’ve been too easy. So, extras it was, where the Sox had already struggled this year, going 1-3 in bonus baseball.
But the bullpen gave them a chance. Bryan Hudson continued his quietly excellent season with a clean eighth. Tyler Davis helped erase trouble in the ninth, inducing a slick 6-4-3 double play. And Seranthony Domínguez stranded the ghost runner in the 10th without much drama.
That set the stage for the bottom of the 10th with Drew Pomeranz on the mound. The Angels, oddly, chose to load the bases the long way by intentionally walking Vargas, then unintentionally walking Murakami. A grounder from Hays cut down the runner at the plate. It seemed like another chance slipping away.
And up stepped Montgomery.
First pitch. No hesitation. Line drive to center. Ballgame.
First career walk-off for the “Monty Monster,” and honestly, it felt fitting. He’s been flashing power lately, and while this wasn’t a homer, it might’ve been louder.
White Sox starter Erick Fedde definitely did his part. He just didn’t get much help.
After retiring eight straight to open the game, he gave up a Mike Trout homer in the fourth to tie things, then another solo shot in the seventh to Vaughn Grissom that put the Angels ahead 2-1. That was it. The veteran’s final line: seven innings, five hits, two runs, no walks, six strikeouts. He deserved a win, but he still doesn’t have one. Maybe next time out.
Progress isn’t always pretty. Sometimes it looks like stranding runners all afternoon and still finding a way. They’ll take the sweep. They’ll take the momentum. And maybe, just maybe, they’ll take this version of themselves on the road to San Diego and see what sticks.
Apr 29, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Seattle Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford (3) runs the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Minnesota Twins during the third inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Mariners 5, Twins 3
Checking down to first on a check swing: Cole Young, +0.56 WPA
Not checking down to first on a check swing: Luke Raley, -0.18 WPA
