Category: Baseball

Morning, all!

Chris Martin has made a lot of appearances so far this season but says that he ““feels great.”

The Ranger hitters have yet to use an ABS challenge despite many called strikes out of the strike zone, which Skip Schumaker attributes to being good teammates.

Baltimore ended last night’s game against the Rangers with a successful ABS challenge during Evan Carter’s at bat in the ninth.

Mackenzie Gore will start in Friday’s home opener against Cincinnati, with Kumar Rocker starting in the following game.

The beat writers are all talking up how much fun the Rangers are having and how loose the clubhouse is, which is a definite change from previous seasons.

In case you missed the news yesterday, the White Sox have postponed today’s game, their home opener. It’s going to be decently warm in Chicago today, 19 degrees, but there are apparently high winds and the risk that a rainstorm is going to blow through around game time. Here in Calgary it’s blizzarding sideways, but, sure, I’m sure some warm rain is uncomfortable too.

Not much for news today. The Jays have officially sent Angel Bastardo back to the Red Sox. That was always the most likely outcome when he didn’t make the team, although there was a chance someone could trade for him. His rough spring probably foreclosed that opportunity, so now he’s back in Boston’s system.

Bonus pools for the 2026 draft were announced. The Jays have the second smallest pool, ahead of only the Dodgers. Their first selection gets knocked back 10 places for trying too hard to win exceeding the second luxury tax threshold. That means they don’t go until 39th overall. eight teams will pick twice before they get to go, and the Rockies will be on the clock three times. They got a compensation pick after the fourth round for the Mets signing Bo Bichette after he rejected the Jays’ Qualifying Offer, but lose that pick and their second rounder for signing Dylan Cease after he rejected the Padres’ QO. After their ‘first rounder’, then, they pick in the third (103rd overall), 4th (131st), 5th (164th), 6th (193rd), 7th (222nd), and every 30 picks thereafter. So they’re going to have a hard time infusing any premium talent into the system this winter, although there’s plenty of gold to be panned in the later picks.

Finally, it’s opening day for all the leagues below AAA (which opened the same day the Majors did). Only the A ball Dunedin Blue Jays actually play today, though, at 4:30pm ET. They haven’t announced a starter yet, but top prospects Jojo Parker and Blaine Bullard should be in the lineup. They’ll face sixth overall pick Seth Hernandez, so it’ll be a good test from the jump. The AA New Hampshire Fisher Cats and A+ Vancouver Canadians open their seasons tomorrow night.

Do you think your office is interesting? Most people probably would disagree. Maybe parts of your job are interesting, but the office-y parts? The ones where you’re answering emails or getting a Gatorade from the fridge or politely asking your coworker if they had a good weekend while you pass each other in the hallway? Probably not.

I would argue that the clubhouse is the baseball office. It shouldn’t be interesting. And it’s really not. But there is some intrigue in the mundane. The following are some scenes from the Royals clubhouse. Some of them important. Some less so.

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Sam Mellinger, VP of communication, waves at the reporters and TV camera operators in the room: Stephen Cruz is ready for his interview. We crowd around Cruz, the cameras turn on, and questions are sent his way, taking a short detour through a translator. Cruz answers in Spanish, the translator responding to the rest of us in English. Cruz threw all of one (1) inning in Triple-A Omaha before being summoned to Kansas City, Cruz ostensibly making the trip down the well-trod I-29 thoroughfare like so many before—including himself.

Cruz is excited about his slider, which he worked on in the offseason. He wasn’t worried about getting called up, because that was outside his control. He was just ready to pitch, and pitch he did, and pitch he will in Kansas City. Maybe even that night. Cruz seems ready.

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That Cruz is here at all is because the Royals decided to send Carlos Estevez to the injured list due to his foot bruise. Er, “contusion,” manager Matt Quatraro clarifies a little later in his daily dugout interview. But Q used “bruise” first, and this is one of those situations where the technical term removes some of the teeth of what actually happens. A contusion is clinical, specific. A bruise is that nasty purplish-orange-green thing that happens when you accidentally slam your knee into the corner of the table and try to say every curse word you personally know all at once.

Estevez seemed to be in good spirits. He was walking around without much of a limp and without a boot. But, man, he has to be going through it. Imagine if you had a bad day at work and then someone threw a 90-something mile per hour fastball at your foot.

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I’ve been in the clubhouse when the Royals have been blasting music before. Today is quiet. There’s some muffled sound coming from a few of the televisions, which are playing sports shows and varying baseball-related content.

But there was one TV that is just playing, you know, Bluey, as you do. The press gets clubhouse access for 45 minutes to an hour, give or take. And during that whole time, just like, constant Disney Jr., a marathon of children’s television. It’s the sort of thing I’d do as a joke, just to see how long it would stay on before someone did a double-take. No one did.

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As I walked in, my eyes narrowed and I wonder what’s different about the room. I’m only there a dozen times a year, but something is different. I compile my memory and eventually ask Jake Eisenberg, who I know won’t mock me for asking a potentially dumb question: “New carpet?” “Yes, new carpet,” he replies. It’s got a new blue pattern in it and two very large Royals logos that weren’t there before.

Also new: some locker locations. Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen, besties, are now together on the right side. Tyler Tolbert is now by Vinnie Pasquantino. And Maikel Garcia got an upgrade, moving by one of the empty lockers in the back by his Team Venezuela teammate Salvador Perez.

It’s an upgrade because having an empty locker next to yours means more space, and that privilege is granted to the best players. Which two Royals have an empty locker on either side? You can probably guess: Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez.

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Boredom can strike anywhere. For Carter Jensen and Lane Thomas, they decide to pass the time by doing something as old as time: playing cards.

Now, what kind of cards? I don’t know, I prefer not to loom over players who are doing something in their own space, in which I am a guest. But Noah Cameron looms. He is invested in the card game, which is funny because he will start on the mound of a Major League Baseball game in a few hours. Some pitchers keep to themselves during their starting day. But not Cameron, who seems lose—an embrace of the doldrums of work that even baseball players go through.

There seems to be some tension in the Giants infield.

In Wednesday’s 7-1 road loss to the Padres, San Francisco third baseman Matt Chapman fielded a slow grounder off the bat of Xander Bogaerts.

Chapman collected and fired on the run to first baseman Casey Schmitt, but the ball ticked off Schmitt’s glove and rolled to the wall on what would be ruled a throwing error by Chapman.

The play came with runners on first and third and two outs, so it led to a run that could’ve been prevented with a clean throw and catch.

Matt Chapman to Casey Schmitt (twice):

“Catch the f**king ball” pic.twitter.com/4pJPy45i1L

— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) April 1, 2026

Instead, Gavin Sheets scampered home to make it 2-0 Padres in the fifth.

During a mound visit a few minutes later, Chapman had some harsh words for Schmitt.

“Hey, catch the f—cking ball,” Chapman said twice.

After the game, Chapman and Schmitt both said they’d made up. Chapman said it was just a “heat of the moment” incident.” Schmitt added that he stretched too early on the play.

“I’ve already talked to Casey. It’s all good,” Chapman said. “I figured that people would try to make that a big deal, but it’s baseball. Stuff happens. We all learn from it. We’ll move on.”

“I’m not mad about it or anything. It’s baseball,” Schmitt added. “Those are things I should have done and didn’t. At the end of the day, we wake up tomorrow, we play another game and we get back at it. We’re trying to win games. That’s the bottom line. Sometimes things happen. I just messed up.”

No other runs scored in the inning despite the blunder, but the Giants were still beaten 7-1 by San Diego.

Giants starter Adrian Houser gave up just one run over 5 ⅓ innings, but Jose Butto allowed four runs in the bottom of the eighth to stretch the Padres’ lead to six.

The Giants had just four hits in the affair to the Padres’ 10 and struck out 14 times.

Chapman, known for his stellar defense at the hot corner, is in the second year of a six-year, $151 million extension he signed in September 2024.

Last year, he appeared in 128 games and slashed .231/.340/.430 with a .770 OPS, a letdown after the massive deal. He also hit 21 homers and had 61 RBIs.

He spent the first five years of his career in Oakland and the next two in Toronto before moving to the Giants on a three-year contract in 2024 that would ultimately be extended.

Chapman won four Gold Gloves across his first eight seasons, a reason why Wednesday’s mishap was uncharacteristic.

Of course, it doesn’t help that Schmitt isn’t playing his natural position. Before this season, he’d only played a total of 18 games at first base at the MLB level, playing every other infield position instead.

San Francisco is now 2-4 through the first six games of the season after being swept by the Yankees in its opening series and winning two of three against the Padres.

The Giants are looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2021. They’ve finished within the 79-81 win range in the last four campaigns, a consistently mediocre squad.

We’ve got a roster move that fell through the cracks a little bit but still needs to be talked about since it affects the depth of this squad. Back around Opening Day, infielder Brett Wisely was designated for assignment once it was clear that he wouldn’t be making the team. That was all the way back on March 25 when that particular move was made. Now, he’s cleared waivers and has been subsequently assigned to the Gwinnett Stripers.

As DJourn mentions above, this should help the depth when it comes to the infield (and the outfield as well since Wisely can play out there, too) and it’s something that the Braves have learned over the past couple of seasons that you can never have too much of. Meanwhile, this ends a wacky offseason journey for Wisely — one that saw him get picked up off waivers by the Braves last September, traded to the Rays in January and then brought back from the Rays before settling into the Braves Triple-A club.

Wisely made four appearances for the Atlanta Braves and didn’t record a hit in nine plate appearances. With that being said, he’ll probably be used as a defensive substitute if (and hopefully not when) he’s needed to return to the Braves any time soon. For now, he’ll be plying his trade in Gwinnett where he will surely play in more than two games for the Stripers like he did last season.

Cam Schlittler was outstanding again taking the ball on Wednesday against the Mariners.

After allowing just one hit in his season debut last week in San Francisco, the young right-hander was nearly unhittable again as he continued the Yankees' dominant stretch of pitching.

Schlittler found himself in trouble from the first pitch he threw, as Brendan Donovan led off the game with a double, but he was quickly able to escape the threat with help from two strikeouts.

He allowed a one-out knock to Luke Raley in the bottom of the second, but that also proved to be no bother, as he set down the next two he faced on just seven pitches. 

The righty was in complete control from there, going on a stretch of 15 straight retired before Aaron Boone came to pull him with one out in the bottom of the seventh. 

“It was exciting to see just how dominant his stuff is,” the skipper said, via YES Network. “He was ahead in counts, got early outs which allowed him to get deep in the game with a pitch count -- he’s just throwing the ball incredibly well.”

Schlittler finished the day with just the two hits while striking out seven on an efficient 79 pitches over 6.1 innings. 

He’s the first pitcher in Yankee history with zero walks, zero runs, and 15+ K's in any two-game span. 

“It was just like last start,” Schlittler said. “Just being in the zone making good pitches, defense was great behind me, so just having the confidence to go out there attack and do what I can to get as far as I can with a limited amount of pitches.”

Seattle struck three times over the last two innings against the Yankees’ bullpen, but they were able to hang on to close the season-opening road trip 5-1. 

Schlittler wasn't the only arm to deliver for New York on the road trip, as their starters have the lowest ERA in MLB history through six games (0.53) and they've allowed the third-fewest runs as a team over that span (six). 

“I think the staff is dominant, the bullpen has been great, as well,” the young righty said. “The team as a whole we’re just feeding off of each other and just taking it each game and each start and just keep rolling with it.”

After three straight games scoring exactly 13 runs, the Oklahoma City Comets could manage only five runs on Wednesday afternoon in Las Vegas. The Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate allowed six runs in the eighth inning in an 11-5 loss to the Aviators (Athletics) for their second loss of the season.

After a scoreless seventh, Garrett McDaniels allowed a pair of singles, coupled with an error for one run in the eighth. Ronan Kopp entered and got the second out of the eighth, which allowed a second run to score. Then Kopp allowed a pair of two-run home runs to complete the fateful six-run inning that broke the tie.

The usual suspects thus far were instrumental in the Comets offense. Ryan Fitzgerald had three hits, while James Tibbs had two singles and a walk. Ryan Ward had two hits of his own plus a walk, and drove in a pair. Ward also scored a run thanks to heads-up baserunning in the first inning.

13 hours after last night's game ended, the Comets keep it rolling.

Noah Miller knocks a RBI single, and Ryan Ward's heads up baserunning makes it 3-0 early! pic.twitter.com/ECpkgwJrt6

— Oklahoma City Comets (@OKC_comets) April 1, 2026

Jerming Rosario made one spot start for Oklahoma City in 2024, and has since switched to relief. The right-hander’s first two games back with the Comets have been impressive, totaling four innings, one run allowed, and six strikeouts among his 18 batters faced. He struck out four in two innings on Wednesday, with his one run allowed the game-tying home run by Henry Bolte.

Transactions

Triple-A: Dodgers acquired left-hander Jake Eder from the Nationals for cash considerations. Right-hander Grant Holman was claimed off waivers from the Diamondbacks. Both Eder and Holman will make their way to the Comets eventually.

Wednesday score

Las Vegas 11, Oklahoma City 5

Thursday schedule

• 4:30 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Luke Fox) vs. San Antonio [Padres] (TBA)
• 6:35 p.m.: Ontario (TBA) vs. Lake Elsinore [Padres] (TBA)
• 7:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Cole Irvin) at Las Vegas (Cade Morris)

It’s the inaugural game for the Ontario Tower Buzzers, the Dodgers’ new affiliate. Double-A Tulsa also opens its season Thursday. Tulsa’s game will be televised by SportsNet LA, the second of 20 minor league games on the network this season.

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It’s a light slate across Major League Baseball today, but even with limited MLB player props on the board, a few home run props are clearly standing out.

As always, price drives the card — and today we’re getting both value and form.

Corbin Carroll and Drake Baldwin check both boxes, offering strong market prices to go along with favorable matchups and hot bats, and I've also found value in another NL East bat to go yard tonight too, highlighting my favorite MLB home run props for Thursday, April 2.

Best MLB home run props today

Corbin Carroll (+540)

On a thin slate, Corbin Carroll at +540 stands out as one of the best HR values. Some books have already moved this closer to +350, which is much more in line with fair value, and this number is starting to follow.

He faces Reynaldo López, who missed most of last season. While he looked sharp in his opener, he still allowed a home run, and left-handed hitters have historically had success against him.

A return to peak form would be a surprise, with THE BAT projecting a 4.63 ERA and weaker HR prevention than other models.

Carroll already has two homers this season, and was the difference in a 1-0 win over the Detroit Tigers yesterday. When he’s locked in, he has real MVP-level upside.

Chase Field isn’t a top-tier HR park, but Carroll has already gone deep there twice in three games and gets another strong opportunity at a great price.

• Time: 9:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Dbacks.TV, BravesVision

Drake Baldwin (+560)

Drake Baldwin is off to a strong start in his sophomore season, leading his team in multiple offensive categories and matching the rest of the lineup with three home runs entering Thursday.

He’s slugging .773 with a 60% hard-hit rate and is hitting in the two-hole. He's already logged five plate appearances in two of his six games, which is more important than it might seem.

Ryne Nelson allowed two home runs in his season debut and relies heavily on contact to get outs — not an ideal profile against a hitter swinging this well.

On a slate with limited late-game options, getting one of the hottest bats at +500 or better is an easy addition to the card.

• Time: 9:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Dbacks.TV, BravesVision

Juan Soto (+470)

Juan Soto is priced at +470, offering a significant edge — roughly 100 points better than the general market and about 70 points above fair value.

The discount comes from the lefty-lefty matchup against Robbie Ray, but Soto has proven he can handle southpaws. The New York Mets' No. 2 hitter went deep yesterday and has recorded a hit in every game this season, showing strong early form.

He also has some familiarity with Ray, with 10 career at-bats.

It’s not the best power environment, but on a slate with limited late-game options, Soto at +425 or better is a clear add to the card.

• Time: 9:45 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SNY, NBCSBA

Today’s HR parlay

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.

For the second time this season, the San Diego Padres needed to win the third game of a series to avoid a sweep. The Padres did just that with a 7-1 win over the San Francisco Giants at Petco Park on Wednesday. Opening Day starter Nick Pivetta bounced back with a critical performance that resulted in five innings of one-hit baseball.

San Diego struggled on offense throughout the series, but the lineup showed signs of life in the third game of the series against San Francisco. The Padres have been lacking in slug throughout the first five games of the season and have ranked near the bottom of the league in almost every offensive category. San Diego had 10 hits in the win over San Francisco and five of those were for extra bases (four doubles and one home run). It was a welcome sight for many of the Friar Faithful and probably for manager Craig Stammen and his team.

The Padres entered the bottom of the eighth inning with a 3-1 lead and Mason Miller had just gotten the final out in the top of the eighth, looking for a four out save. The San Diego offense took all the drama out of the end of the game with a four-run inning that gave the Padres a 7-1 lead heading to the ninth.

Manny Machado started the bottom of the eighth inning with a leadoff double. Ramon Laureano, who had a rest day on Tuesday, homered to make the score, 5-1. Jake Cronenworth and Gavin Sheets walked before Freddy Fermin struck out for the first out of the inning. Bryce Johnson walked to load the bases for Fernando Tatis Jr. The Padres leadoff man hit an infield single that could not be handled by Giants pitcher Jose Butto or third baseman Matt Chapman, which allowed a run to score to give San Diego a 6-1 lead. Xander Bogaerts followed with a bases loaded walk to force home a run and push the score to the final of 7-1. The inning ended when Jackson Merrill tapped a ball into fair territory that was fielded by catcher Daniel Susac who touched home and threw to first to end the scoring threat.

Miller came out for the top of the ninth and allowed a single to Luis Arraez before striking out the next three batters to end the game and secure the save. The Padres are off Thursday and will travel to Boston to take on the Red Sox for their Opening Day at Fenway Park on Friday at 11:10 a.m.

Padres News:

• The San Diego minor league system is coming to life for the 2026 season with the El Paso Chihuahuas, San Antonio Missions, Fort Wayne TinCaps and Lake Elsinore Storm all in action this week.

• Lincoln Zdunich of Gaslamp Ball took a look at what went wrong for San Diego in the loss to San Francisco in the second game of the series. He focused on the diminished defense in left field as a result of Nick Castellanos getting the start over Ramon Laureano, who was given the day off.

• The Padres have gotten off to a 2-4 start to the season, but it isn’t for lack of support from the Friar Faithful. San Diego played six games at Petco Park to start the season and each one was a sellout.

• JP Sears made a start for San Diego Triple-A affiliate El Paso and he delivered a solid outing that lasted five innings. Sung-Mun Song continues his rehab assignment with El Paso and went 1-for-5 with an RBI.

Baseball News:

• Baltimore Orioles catcher Samuel Bassalo challenged a third strike with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, and the ABS System overturned the called ball by the umpire resulting in strike three and the end of the game in a Baltimore win over the Texas Rangers. It’s the first time a game has ended with an ABS challenge.

• Miami Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara needed less than 100 pitches to throw a complete game to lead the Marlis to a win over the Chicago White Sox.

• Zac Gallen and Tarik Skubal went head-to-head when the Arizona Diamondbacks took on the Detroit Tigers, and it was the Arizona right-hander who led his team to a win.

• Cleveland Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams struck out 10 and helped his team beat the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday. Matthew Boyd also recorded 10 strikeouts to lead the Chicago Cubs over the Los Angeles Angels.

• Rookie Justin Crawford capped a Philadelphia Phillies comeback over the Washington Nationals with a walk-off single.

Making his second regular season start as a Met, Freddy Peralta was very sharp on Wednesday afternoon. 

With the series on the line, the right-hander delivered the performance the team was looking for, but his offense couldn’t pick him up and they ended up being walked off by the Cardinals in extras. 

Still, it was an encouraging performance from the Mets’ new ace. 

Peralta picked up Francisco Lindor after he forgot how many outs there were in the bottom of the first, quickly striking out the next batter to end the inning with just five extra pitches thrown.

He then settled into a groove and retired the next nine batters he faced, picking up three more strikeouts along the way, before allowing the first two to reach with a walk and single in the bottom of the fifth. 

The righty was able to work his way out of danger, though, rolling a pair of groundouts and picking up a big strikeout with some help from an ABS challenge. 

He put the first two on again in the sixth, but this time recorded just one out before being pulled from the ballgame.

Peralta was visibly frustrated as he wanted to continue on as Carlos Mendoza walked out and signaled toward the bullpen, but after taking some time, he agreed with the decision afterward.

“I like to compete and I always want to stay in the game,” he said. “I knew that part of the situation I wasn’t able to finish was because I gave up a base hit to the leadoff guy -- at the end of the day, I think it was smart by Mendy.”

Huascar Brazoban entered and allowed a two out RBI knock to Nolan Gorman, but limited the damage to just that to keep the game evened at one heading to the top of the seventh. 

New York, of course, ended up falling in the 11th but it was a strong effort put forward by Peralta with just the one run allowed on three hits and two walks while striking out seven in 5.1 innings. 

"He was really good," Mendoza said. "The changeup usage was pretty impressive, a pitch that he didn’t use until like the fourth in his first outing, but today we went right to it especially with the lefties they had in the lineup.

"There was also life on the fastball, the way he mixed -- he wasn’t afraid to double-up on the changeup and triple-up when he needed to, he got swing-and-misses which made the fastball play a lot more, overall he was just really solid.”

Peralta is lined up to toe the rubber again in Tuesday’s series opener with the Diamondbacks.

Watching the Braves’ first six games of the year, it’s hard to really seize on any one thing that cements their identity as distinct from other teams, or the Braves teams that have come before. Not that these things have to come in the first six games, and sometimes, even if they do, it’s not clear that they’re going to be a throughline for the entire season. But, it’s certainly possible — Nick Markakis’ Opening Day walkoff in 2018 was I guess an early sign of the ridiculous team of destiny that particular Braves squad was going to be, the Braves clobbered their opponents in three of their first four games in 2023, Sean Murphy got hurt on Opening Day 2024, the 0-7 start to 2005, you get the idea.

This team so far, though… I don’t know. Any ideas? They’re top ten offensively in both outputs and inputs, but that’s come due to a lot of walks and barely any strikeouts… and the guys that are walking a ton aren’t hitting, except for Drake Baldwin. I guess “Team of Drake Baldwin” is an early contender, as he’s been scorching through these first two series. Another standout aspect so far has been the defense, but that’s about it. The Braves are also a top-ten pitching team, but not in a remarkable way, unless you factor in the defensive contribution to run prevention. And, of course, there’s a potential identity to be mined in “has absolutely no idea what they’re doing on the bases,” but I hope they course-correct there soon.

There’s also the overarching narratives of the pitching staff being barely held together, but that at least hasn’t gotten worse yet. Reynaldo Lopez and Grant Holmes both looked rough here and there, but the Braves didn’t really suffer for it, not yet — and Bryce Elder had a patented Good Elder (Bryce Eldar) start.

Anyway, I guess you can make your predictions here. How will we remember this team in terms of what it did, whether on the field or off?

Meet the Mets

One day after getting shut out, the Mets could only muster one run in the finale to drop the series against the Cardinals. All their offense came off a solo home run by Juan Soto that followed Francisco Lindor getting picked off. They still had a chance to redeem themselves in both the tenth and eleventh but they could not even push the ghost runner across. The pitching remained solid but this offense has been putrid outside of Opening Day and hopefully they packed their bats for the next series in San Francisco.

Choose your recap:Amazin’ Avenue, Daily News, LoHud, MLB.com, Newsday, NY Post

The good news is that the offense keeps getting chances, but the bad news is that they continuously keep failing to capitalize on those chances.

Meet the new Mets who are making the same mistakes as the old Mets.

Freddy Peralta was good in his second start striking out seven St. Louis batters.

Keith Hernandez is on the IL with a back issue and will miss calling the next five games, but Todd Zeile came to the rescue to fill in calling the games with Gary Cohen.

A rather earnest young Mets fan from Manchester, U.K is vowing to run a mile for every Mets home run hit this season.

Former Met Adam Ottavino is reportedly joining ESPN as an analyst.

Around the National League East

Chris Sale was solid on the mound again for the Braves in their 5-1 win over the Athletics.

Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara looked like his former self in Miami’s 10-0 win over the White Sox.

After the game, the Marlins got a birds-eye view of the Artemis II launch from their charter flight.

Justin Crawford got the game-winning walk-off hit in the Phillies 6-5 win over the Nationals.

Despite having a 5-1 lead late, the Washington bullpen could not hold it in Philadelphia.

Around Major League Baseball

Former umpires weighed in on the new ABS system and what challenges it presents for current umpires during the game.

Despite viewers cutting the cord that does not necessarily mean the death of local regional sports networks.

The Pirates are reportedly in talks to extend top prospect Konnor Griffin.

Paul Skenes earned his first win of the season with a good bounceback outing from Opening Day.

Cam Schlittler got his second start of the year and has yet to give up an earned run for the Yankees.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

On the latest episode of A Pod of Their Own, the beginning of the season and the return of J.D. Martinez was discussed.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 1984, Davey Johnson made his debut as the manager of the New York Mets.

Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Mets and Giants play a four-game series in San Francisco starting on Thursday night...

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5 things to watch

Will Nolan McLean hit the ground running?

McLean didn't have a great feel for his pitches at the outset of his first start of the season last Sunday against the Pirates, walking the first two batters he faced. The young right-hander was searching a bit over the first three innings, with manager Carlos Mendoza saying McLean didn't really find it until the fourth inning.

Even without his best stuff, McLean performed well, allowing just two runs on four hits while walking two and striking out eight in five innings.

As the game went on, McLean got more comfortable and his stuff started to overwhelm Pittsburgh. 

Five of the last seven outs McLean recorded came via the strikeout -- four swinging and one looking.

On the day, McLean threw 84 pitches (generating 12 swings and misses) while mixing in his full six-itch arsenal. 

Power outage

With Pete Alonso departing for the Orioles, it felt likely that the Mets might not hit as many homers in 2026 as they did in 2025, when they smacked 224 -- good for fifth-most in the majors.

It should also be noted that aside from Opening Day, when the temperature was in the low-70s, the Mets have not played in weather that is optimal for the ball carrying.

Still, they entered play on Wednesday having hit just three home runs in their first five games -- one each by Carson Benge, Francisco Alvarez, and Luis Robert Jr.

It hasn't just been the Mets when it comes to low home run totals in the early going.

Fifteen teams (exactly half the league) entered play on Wednesday with five home runs or fewer, including the Tigers, Yankees Red Sox, and Phillies. 

Is there a bullpen conundrum?

Of the eight pitchers in New York's bullpen, one of them (Sean Manaea) is a starting pitcher whose usage won't be regular, while another (Tobias Myers) is a multi-inning weapon who will often need multiple days off between appearances.

Myers, who has been terrific in his role, is obviously going nowhere.

But it's been a bit of a challenge early on for Mendoza while trying to juggle the rest of the bullpen. 

Add to the above the fact that Brooks Raley is not yet being used on back-to-back days, and the struggles of Richard Lovelady, and you get a bit of a conundrum.

If the Mets' starting pitchers don't regularly start giving the team six or seven innings, it feels like there will have to soon be another arm added to the mix who can pitch far more often than Manaea or Myers are able to, or be a lot more effective than Lovelady.

The Giants' offense has been anemic

San Francisco mustered just 13 runs over the first five games of the season, better than only the Padres, Royals, and Twins.

That included only four runs total in their first four games before erupting for nine runs against the Padres on Tuesday.

The Giants were especially hapless against the Yankees, scoring one run in three games as they were swept in the season-opening series in San Francisco.

Against the Yanks, San Francisco was shut down by Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, and Will Warren. Fried and Schlittler both have great stuff. Warren, not so much. 

Can the Mets get to Logan Webb?

Webb was tagged by the Yankees on Opening Night, allowing seven runs (six earned) on nine hits in five innings.

He was better his second time out, allowing three runs in six innings against the Padres, but struggled with his command as he issued four walks.

Webb had a 3.22 ERA (2.60 FIP) and 1.23 WHIP while tossing an MLB-high 207.0 innings in 2025, finishing fourth in NL Cy Young award voting. 

He has been one of the best pitchers in baseball since 2021, and has had his way with the Mets -- with a 3.21 career ERA in 42.0 innings over seven starts. However, he'll obviously be facing a version of the Mets that is much different than the one he went up against over the last five years. 

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Juan Soto

Soto has been locked in at the plate early.

Which Mets pitcher will have the best start?

Kodai Senga

Senga's fastball was explosive during his first start of the year on Tuesday against the Cardinals.

Which Giants player will be a thorn in the Mets' side?

Luis Arraez

Arraez's elite contact rate means his ability to be a pest in any given series is high.