Category: Baseball

It was a beatdown at Citizens Bank Park, but for the first time in a while, the Nats were the ones delivering the beating. They destroyed the Phillies in a 13-2 blowout. The good guys had 17 hits and had the Phillies by the neck from the jump. It has been a while since the Nats have delivered a beating like that.

With this 13 run performance, the Nats have their second double digit run game. That offense that we were worried about this spring just flipped the switch and has looked awesome in the regular season. The bats have been hunting in packs so far this season.

This year’s #Nationals team has now passed 2018 with their ninth-inning explosion.

Meanwhile, Washington now faces a position player on the mound while winning for just the third time since the 2021 trade deadline really opened the rebuild.@TheNatsReporthttps://t.co/hVg6JC7Yh0

— Ryan Shenker (@RyanShenker) March 31, 2026

This win has the Nats up to 3-1, making this the team’s best start in a long time. We know this balloon can pop at any time, but I am having so much fun watching the Nats to start the season. They are playing a fun and energetic style of baseball with a ton of hustling and great at bats. Some of the defensive miscues still need to be cleaned up, but this group’s effort cannot be questioned.

Once again, the Nats offense was led by cult hero Joey Wiemer. While Wiemer finally got out today, he still had a really nice day at the plate. His season averages may have dropped, but Wiemer still went 2/4 with a walk. He also tied Carlos Delgado for the most consecutive plate appearances to start a season without getting out. This was an all time heater from Wiemer and it was truly amazing to watch.

Joey Wiemer ties Carlos Delgado's record for most consecutive plate appearances to reach base safely to start a season at 10! pic.twitter.com/tiXwIPyoZZ

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 30, 2026

It was not just him though, there were contributions up and down the lineup. Every Nat got at least one hit and seven had multi-hit games. It is tough to pick out an offensive star because everyone was getting knocks. If I had to pick one, I would probably choose Jose Tena, who had the only three hit game for the Nats.

The Nats weren’t doing this with the long ball either. This was just a steady barrage of base hits that came from stringing together quality at bats. I have not seen anything like it from this group in a while. So many times in the past, the Nats would have a big first inning and then pull their punches. Today, they kept their foot on the gas and made it so bad the Phillies had to bring in a position player to lob in pitches at the end.

On the mound, Foster Griffin made his Nats debut and he was solid. He threw five innings of two run ball. The southpaw faded a bit in the fifth inning, but did a nice job limiting the damage and finishing the inning. He did enough to get his first Nats win. I like Griffin’s deep pitch mix and command. He could be a guy who has a lot of success.

Foster Griffin last pitched in a Major League game on September 22, 2022.

He struck out Kyle Schwarber in a scoreless 1st inning back in the bigs 👏 pic.twitter.com/71PZJyqKWL

— MLB (@MLB) March 30, 2026

Overall, this was an exhilarating night for Nats fans. For so many years, the Nats were on the other end of these kinds of beat downs. It feels nice to be the ones delivering the punishment for once. This team may not end up being good, but they will be much more fun.

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Chase DeLauter is on pace for 162 home runs! Sal Stewart is batting a very sustainable .700! Surely, they are locks to take home the American League and National League Rookie of the Year honors this fall.

Slow your roll. As impressive as they are, there's a chance that we're jumping the gun here. 

Below, I identify how the MLB Rookie of the Year odds markets have overreacted to these performances — and make some MLB Rookie of the Year predictions for guys offering real value in the respective ROY markets.

Rookie of the Year overreactions and early picks for 2026

Early American League Rookie of the Year pick + overreaction

AL Rookie of the Year overreaction: Crown Chase DeLauter already!

Cleveland Guardians outfielder Chase DeLauter hit two home runs on Opening Day against the Mariners and finished the four-game set by going 6-for-17 with four long balls.

A 2-HR game for Chase DeLauter!

His first two homers in the Majors 😱 pic.twitter.com/Cgx9ETs5jL

— MLB (@MLB) March 27, 2026

It was a historic debut for the 24-year-old, who became just the third player in MLB history to homer in each of his first three games (funnily enough, fellow AL ROY contender Munetaka Murakami became the fourth shortly after).

DeLauter is not without pedigree, either, as the 24-year-old entered the season as Cleveland's No. 2 prospect and was ranked 44th overall by MLB Pipeline. Chances are, he'd have been even higher were it not for a history of injury concerns throughout his minor-league career.

In February, DeLauter was +2000 to win AL ROY. That number shrank to +1200 ahead of Opening Day. He's on a real upward trajectory, so hopefully you got in on the ground floor.

DeLauter odds to win ROY: +350 at FanDuel

AL Rookie of the Year pick: Don't forget about Samuel Basallo

As part of the "what have you done for me lately" crowd, Baltimore Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo seems like a forgotten man after baseball's first weekend. It's easy to see why, as he has just two hits (both singles) in 10 at-bats, but this is the perfect time to pump the brakes.

Basallo has prodigious power, as evidenced by the 23 home runs he hit in 76 games at Triple-A in 2025. The Orioles have also shown that they are not going to mess around with his playing time. Even when Adley Rutschman has been behind the plate, Basallo has served as designated hitter and first baseman.

The 21-year-old slugger was +1100 on Opening Day, so this movement is offering a ton of value.

Basallo odds to win ROY: +2000 at FanDuel

Current AL Rookie of the Year odds & favorites

Early National League Rookie of the Year pick + overreaction

NL Rookie of the Year overreaction: Sal Stewart is a hitter's name

Cincinnati Reds infielder Sal Stewart has seen his odds halved from +900 entering Opening Day to +450 after just three games.

Stewart went 7-for-10 with a home run, three doubles, and three walks while not striking out once while terrorizing Red Sox pitching over the weekend. Obviously, he won't hit .700 all season, but he showed why his bat has been so highly touted. And while he will certainly strike out eventually, he might not exhibit a ton of swing and miss, either, as he hovered around a 15% strikeout rate throughout his minor-league career.

Add in the fact that he plays his home games at hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark, and Stewart will become a Cincinnati folk hero by July, with an NL Rookie of the Year award soon following based on this pace.

Stewart odds to win ROY: +450 at FanDuel

NL Rookie of the Year pick: Owen Caissie isn't a platoon bat

I wanted sportsbooks to overreact to Konnor Griffin starting the season in Triple-A while his peers lit up the MLB scoreboard, but so far, that hasn't materialized, as he's still a robust +700. 

While I'm tempted to go with a pitcher that has yet to debut in either Bubba Chandler or Andrew Painter (both of whom I highlighted in our MLB Rookie of the Year odds), I want to single out Miami Marlins outfielder Owen Caissie, whose odds have only slightly shortened from +1800 to +1300 after an impressive weekend.

Caissie wasn't initially in Miami's Opening Day lineup against the Rockies because left-hander Kyle Freeland was on the mound, but was a late add due to a Christopher Morel scratch. He hit a double off Freeland. 

The lefty slugger followed that up by going 3-for-4 on Saturday, before being relegated to bench duties on Sunday (again with a lefty on the mound), but entered as a pinch-hitter, ultimately walking off the Rockies with a mammoth home run.

OWEN CAISSIE WALK-OFF TWO-RUN HOMER 🤯 pic.twitter.com/bz3QkvlvqI

— MLB (@MLB) March 29, 2026

Caissie got his first taste of the majors last summer, and it didn't go so well, but it looks like the jitters are all the way gone, and this line won't last much longer either.

Caissie odds to win ROY: +1300 at FanDuel

Current NL Rookie of the Year odds & favorites

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Detroit Tigers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

Time/Place: 10:10 p.m., Chase Field
SB Nation Site: AZ Snake Pit
Media: Detroit Sportsnet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Justin Verlander (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Michael Soroka (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

* Note: Stats in the table below are Fangraphs’ 2026 projections

Player	G	IP	K%	BB%	ERA	FIP	fWAR
Verlander	26	140.0	19.7%	7.6%	4.49	4.53	1.5
Soroka	52	101.0	23.5%	8.7%	4.03	4.04	0.7

The Dodgers are back after Sunday’s off day as they open up a three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians at home on Monday. Roki Sasaki makes his season debut against left-hander Parker Messick.

Tonight’s #Dodgers lineup vs. Guardians: pic.twitter.com/I2Z3D8v4XJ

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 30, 2026

MONDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Guardians
• Stadium: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 (Spanish)

Here is the Guardians’ lineup:

Guardians 3/30

S. Kwan LF
C. DeLauter DH
J. Ramírez 3B
K. Manzardo 1B
D. Schneemann CF
B. Rocchio 2B
G. Arias SS
A. Hedges C
A. Martínez RF

P. Messick SP

— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) March 30, 2026

Here is the Dodgers’ lineup:

Tonight’s #Dodgers lineup vs. Guardians: pic.twitter.com/I2Z3D8v4XJ

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 30, 2026

Let’s go, Guardians!

The Nationals’ starting pitcher tonight, Foster Griffin, recently returned stateside from his years with the Yomiuri Giants of Tokyo. By taking that journey, Griffin followed in the footsteps of Lafcadio Hearn, a resident of New Orleans who moved to Japan and became the author of the collection of ghost stories and tall tales known as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. This subtitle could also apply to the events of tonight’s game.

The start was inauspicious, and then unpleasant, and then outright ugly. Taijuan Walker walked James Wood, and a light hit up the third base line gave Luis García Jr a double that was gentle on the ball, and less so on Phillies’ fans stomachs. A subsequent ball to Edmundo Sosa at second became an RBI when he threw it home in a thwarted attempt to stop a sliding Wood, and a ball hit through the left-side gap by CJ Abrams scored the second run.

The fact that many of the hits were on light contact was cold comfort. Drew Millas gently blooped one to shallow center, loading the bases. The next batter, José Vivas, hit it to about the same spot, but a little harder, and was rewarded with an RBI. A sac fly put the fourth run on the board in a sour inning.

Then the sour became the absurd. A grounder from Joey Wiemer seemed to end the inning when Walker raced to the bag to get the out. Realizing that the call was close, the Phillies made sure to tag Millas on the way from third to home, just in case. The subsequent challenge of the call at first resulted in Wiemer being ruled safe, and Millas being sent back to third. Thomson came out to voice his objection to the Millas call, and was then ejected. Don Mattingly took over. A punchout of Wood finally ended the dreary top of the first.

The Phillies bats took their first hacks against Foster Griffin. As Griffin wandered through Japan, he perhaps learned of the Tale of the Heike, a centuries-old narrative of a battle between the Taira and Minamoto clans. The opening line of said tale notes that the ringing of monastery bells evokes “the impermanence of all things”. Also impermanent were the Phillies, as they went down in order.

Kwaidan is full of stories about hauntings and curses. A haunting or curse perhaps explains all of the shallow bloops and seeing-eye singles that the Phillies surrendered in a silly second. It is rumored that Bryce Harper recently neglected to leave out an offering of cucumber for the river goblins known as kappa, and perhaps this is why he bobbled a ball at first, as a fielder’s choice allowed the Nationals to score their fifth run. It is also rumored that Trea Turner provided the wrong answer when the deadly spirit known as the Kuchisake-onna asked him if she was pretty. The folktale states that answering either yes or no will result in horrible maiming (the only way to escape is to be noncommital). In this case, however, she scarred only his pride, as he mishandled a ball in the top of the third. A series of fielders choices resulted in the Nationals taking a 7-0 lead.

Meanwhile, the Phillies offense remained quiet, posting just a pair of singles through four. Walker allowed a double in the fifth and was then replaced with Jonathan Bowlan. His final tally was 7 runs (6 earned) on 10 hits.

By the time the Phillies came to bat in the bottom of the fifth, the mood of the fans could be best described as disgruntled. But there are a few things that can help to restore the pluck of a phractured phanbase, among them being home runs and a big play from an unexpected source. The Phillies got both when Rafael Marchán hit a homer to left to score two and give the Phillies their first runs of the night. Turner doubled to left, Griffin plunked Kyle Schwarber, and Harper came to the plate, smashing a high arcing ball to right. For a moment, before the ball swung foul, it seemed like the mood might shift. Harper would end up grounding out. The moment was disappointing, but in a more mundane way than the oddity that had defined the earlier innings.

Strangeness, however, ended up reasserting itself. In the top sixth, Otto Kemp dove for a fly ball, seemingly catching it in an excellent play. The ball was hard to see as Kemp’s glove slid towards the wall, but replay confirmed the ball slipped out as he hit the ground. The final result was a double. An error from Sosa put the next runner on. An unusual 5-3 double play gave the Phillies some additional juice, but the Nationals singled to score their eighth, and then again to put runners on the corners. Both runners made to steal at the next at-bat, and while the final out of the inning was made between second and first, the Washingtons succeeded in putting another run across before the out was secured. This sort of trickery is usually reserved for yokai spirits, whom the Nationals may have hired as special, spectral assistants.

The Phillies finally got a lucky break of their own in the bottom eighth, as Brady House dropped an easy pop fly to allow Alec Bohm to reach second to lead off the inning. But the next three Phils made outs, and the Fightins entered the ninth in the unenviable position of down seven.

José Alvarado took the mound, and loaded the bases with a pair of singles and a walk. He walked another as the Nationals hit double digit runs, and another single allowed them to reach a dozen.

The Phillies then settled for the ignominy of a position player pitching, in the form of Dylan Moore. His eephuses (eephi?) wrapped up the inning with one more run scored, for a baker’s dozen (if Dusty Baker was still their manager, this would’ve been a clever bit of wordplay; alas). The bottom of the ninth saw the Phillies put a pair of baserunners on, but they ended the game with their pair of runs, and the grumblings of an unhappy Monday night crowd.

The Phillies are 1-3. The series against the Nationals continues tomorrow at 6:40, with Andrew Painter scheduled to make his MLB debut.

The Orioles have shied away from drafting pitchers in the first round under Mike Elias. The team recently acquired and extended a former first-round starter in Shane Baz, but Baltimore has opted time and time again to prioritize position players in the draft. Tonight’s opponent—the Texas Rangers—used top 10 picks on a pair of starters in 2021 and 2022. The Orioles faced the higher of the two draft picks tonight.

Former number two overall pick Jack Leiter held Baltimore to two runs over six strong innings. Leiter made an early mistake against Gunnar Henderson, but he minimized hard contact for the duration of his outing. Baltimore’s offense failed to build on Sunday’s strong offensive performance, and the Birds fell 5-2 in the first of three games at Camden Yards.

The Orioles built their rotation through trades and free agency. Baltimore inked Chris Bassitt to a one-year, $18.5 million deal, and the 37-year-old made his Oriole debut tonight against Texas. Bassitt took the loss after allowing four earned runs over 4.1 innings.

Bassitt ran into trouble right out of the gate. The former Blue Jay allowed a leadoff single to Brandon Nimmo, and Wyatt Langford beat out an infield hit after an assist from instant replay. Corey Seager advanced both runners with a soft ground out to second base, and Bassitt made his first true mistake after his next pitch.

Bassitt generated a comebacker that could have been a rally killer, but the righty failed to make another quality throw to home plate. The starter had Nimmo dead to rights, but he spiked a comically bad throw that allowed the leadoff hitter to score.

Bassitt recovered by striking out Joc Pederson and retiring Josh Jung, and Henderson picked him up in the bottom of the frame. Leiter fell behind 2-0 before grooving a middle-middle fastball to Baltimore’s shortstop. Henderson jumped at the pitch and sent the ball 410 feet to dead center. Just like that, the score was event at one.

Bassitt wasted no time relinquishing the lead for the second time. He allowed a leadoff double to Evan Carter before walking Kyle Higashioka. Nimmo struck again with his second single in as many innings to provide Texas a 2-1 advantage. Higashioka advanced to third on a fly out by Langford, and Bassitt loaded the bases with a free pass to Seager. Jake Burger increased the early lead with a base hit up the middle, and Pederson drove in the Rangers’ fourth run with a sacrifice fly to left field.

Bassit allowed base runners in the third and fourth innings but managed to post a pair of zeros. He issued a leadoff walk in the fifth inning, and exited after striking out Jung. His final line read 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. He threw 61 of 100 pitches for strikes.

Orioles fans may have some concern after watching Charlie Morton and Kyle Gibson fall off a cliff, but Bassitt deserves more than one start before we all press the panic button. The veteran was not sharp in his Camden Yards debut, but he’ll have an opportunity to make a stronger second impression next week.

Dietrich Enns and Rico Garcia kept the Orioles in it with impressive performances out of the bullpen. Enns struck out four batters over 1.2 innings, and Garcia blanked three over two clean frames.

Baltimore cut the deficit in half with a run in the fifth. Colton Cowser got things started with an infield single, and Blaze Alexander moved him into scoring position with a base hit up the middle. Cowser advanced to third on a flyout by Ward, and Henderson drove in Baltimore’s only other run with a sharp single up the middle.

Baltimore’s best chance to even the score came in the bottom of the eighth. Ward and Alonso singled to put the tying run on base with one out. Unfortunately, Adley Rutschman lined out to center and Tyler O’Neill produced a harmless grounder to end the threat.

Tyler Wells continued his rocky start to the season with an earned run in the ninth inning. The former starter allowed a one-out double to Burger before allowing consecutive singles to Andrew McCutchen and Josh Smith.

Pinch hitters Jeremiah Jackson and Ryan Mountcastle failed to generate a rally in the ninth inning.

The Orioles will look to climb back above .500 with Zach Eflin on the mound tomorrow at 6:35 p.m.

Bryce Elder’s first start of the season was a successful one, as his six strong innings and some early offense ended up being the formula for a comprehensive 4-0 series-opening win for the Atlanta Braves over the Athletics.

The game got off to an auspicious start for the Braves, as Elder got his night going with a 1-2-3 inning and then the Braves pounced on A’s starter Jacob Lopez right out of the gate. Ronald Acuña Jr. led off the game with a walk and usually when Acuña reaches base to begin a game, good things usually follow. Sure enough, good times were on the way as Matt Olson put the Braves ahead early with an RBI double and then Mauricio Dubón plated both Olson and Drake Baldwin (who got on with a single earlier on in the first) with an RBI single to make it a three-run first inning for the Braves.

While pitching with a lead has gotten Bryce Elder in trouble at times in the past, that wasn’t the case here on Monday night. Elder sat down the A’s in order in the second inning — even though he gave up a hit to the returning hometown hero Lawrence Butler, Butler’s time on the base paths was short-lived after Elder picked him off at first to end the inning. That was actually Elder’s first career pickoff throw and it also should’ve been the clearest sign that he was going to be on top of his game on the mound tonight.

Elder ran into a bit of trouble in the fourth inning when Tyler Soderstrom and Mississippi State legend Brent Rooker were both on base together with just one out in the fourth inning. Fortunately, Elder was able to retire Jacob Wilson and Lawrence Butler in consecutive harmless fly ball outs (both off of changeups) in order to escape the mini-jam without sustaining much damage. Elder then struck out the side (a Carlos Cortes walk, notwithstanding) in the fifth inning with a nasty-looking sinker punching Nick Kurtz out looking to end the fifth.

Elder eventually finished his outing with six shutout innings under his belt along with five strikeouts. There were still a fair share of baserunners for Elder to deal with as he gave up five hits and a walk but ultimately, he was able to prevent the A’s from doing any type of serious damage. While this might only be Elder’s first start of the season, it would certainly be an incredibly encouraging development if Elder can be consistently relied upon like he was during the first half of the 2023 season.

While that was going on, Jacob Lopez ended up only lasting four innings in this one as the Braves were able to keep him throwing a ton of pitches on the mound. Atlanta racked up five hits against Lopez but they also coaxed five walks out of him as well. That’s a pretty quick way to get the pitch count up and Lopez ended up throwing 91 pitches on the night. Meanwhile, it took Elder 83 pitches to get through six innings — one guy was dealing and the other guy was scuffling and fortunately, the guy who we’re all rooting for was the one doing the dealing.

The A’s bullpen entered the game and eventually settled things down as the Braves didn’t really threaten too much from the fifth inning onwards. Ronald Acuña Jr. did hit a deep fly ball to left-center that looked like it was leaving the park off of the bat but instead, it landed at the base of the wall for a double and that’s where he would be stranded to end the frame.

The Braves offense eventually returned to the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth inning, which is exactly when you want to start adding some breathing room before the final inning of the contest. Mike Yastrzemski got things going in a big way by hitting a line drive that got over Jeff McNeil’s head. Once the A’s finally got to the ball and the smoke cleared, Yaz was at third with a triple. Mauricio Dubón brought Yaz home with his third hit of the game and just like that, the Braves had a four-run advantage heading into the ninth. Dubón may have had a couple of errors in this one but his big day at the plate helped to balance things out.

The Braves bullpen entered the game in the seventh inning and things went pretty smoothly for that particular group. Aaron Bummer struck out a pair during his scoreless seventh inning and then Robert Suarez did his job as the set-up man by inducing an a ground ball for an inning-ending double play that completely snuffed out the A’s chance at potentially getting a rally going in the eighth inning. That set things up for Raisel Iglesias to finish things off in the ninth inning. A double play and a pop-out made it a relatively quick inning to finish things off and push the Braves to 3-1 on the year.

Again, it bears repeating that the Braves could absolutely do with having guys like Bryce Elder step up and deliver some reliable production at the back of the rotation. If they can get pitching like this on a somewhat regular basis then that alone should help this team improve from how they finished last season. On top of that, the offense seems to be in solid form to start the season as well. While this wasn’t a perfect win (the errors and some sloppy base running (which manager Walt Weiss is willing to accept for the time being as the team learns to be more aggressive on the base paths) come to mind), a win is a thousand-times more pretty than a loss and so far the Braves are doing pretty well here in the early going.

Hopefully things will continue in the right path as the Braves go for another series win on Tuesday night starting at 7:15 p.m. ET.

Ken Clay, who won World Series championships with the New York Yankees in 1977-78 to highlight his five-year major league career, has died at the age of 71.

Dr. Jim Warner, executive medical director for the Centra Heart & Vascular Institute in Lynchburg, Virginia, notified the Yankees on Sunday that Clay died Thursday at home in Lynchburg. Warner said Clay’s cause of death was heart and kidney issues.

A reliever for most of his career, Clay made his major league debut in June 1977 and appeared in two games in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 1978, also against the Dodgers, he gave up a three-run homer to Davey Lopes in Game 1 in his only appearance.

His best postseason outing came in the opener of the 1978 American League Championship Series against Kansas City. The Yankees led 4-0 when Clay entered with one out and the bases loaded in the sixth inning. Clay pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings and earned the save in a 7-1 win.

Clay was 1-7 in 1979 and finished the season in the minors. He was still in the minors when the Yankees traded him to the Texas Rangers for Gaylord Perry the next year. He made eight starts for the Rangers in 1980, going 2-3, and was traded to the Seattle Mariners after the season. The Mariners released him in spring training in 1982.

Clay made 111 appearances in the majors in his career, including 36 starts, and was 10-24 with three saves and a 4.68 ERA.

As Clay struggled in 1979, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner criticized him for underachieving, famously calling him a “morning glory,” a reference to racehorses that turn in excellent morning workouts but don’t perform well in races.

Clay also had a run of legal issues. In 1987, he pleaded guilty in Virginia to stealing more than $16,000 from a ring distributor he worked for after his baseball career ended. In 1992, he was sentenced to one year in a Virginia jail for stealing $550 from the car dealership where he worked. In 2001, he pleaded guilty to forgery and other charges in Florida and agreed to repay more than $40,000 to creditors for using an ex-girlfriend’s personal information to defraud three credit card companies.

Friends, you’ve been so engaged that we had to put together an overflow thread! We’ll start doing that for game threads that reach 300+ comments (Sunday’s got a little unwieldy!).

The Rockies just put up a seven-spot on the reigning AL champion Blue Jays after getting in around 2:30am. Also, it was the largest road inning since May 7, 2023 at the New York Mets.

They’re currently up 9-1, and Chase Dollander just made his first appearance out of the bullpen.

In case you forgot, here are the lineups:

Our lineup for today ⤵️#Rockiespic.twitter.com/h1qo6BLIsH

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) March 30, 2026

Ponce makes his Blue Jays debut!

Get your tickets: https://t.co/6QCgkSKfN8pic.twitter.com/EOfOF9RM5k

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) March 30, 2026

Keep it civil, friends, and please remember the Purple Row Community Guidelines as you’re commenting!

The Texas Rangers scored five runs while the Baltimore Orioles scored two runs.

The east coast road trip to begin the 2026 season rolled into Baltimore where the Rangers got an early look at the American League East’s Orioles. Unfortunately for the O’s, that meant they would get an early look at Jack Leiter and they didn’t find much to their liking.

There was plenty to like about Leiter from our perspective, however, as the former first-rounder had his good stuff and enough command to wield it tonight.

Fresh off a rookie season where he turned the corner and situated himself as a rotation mainstay, Leiter’s sophomore year began a tad dicey as he struggled to find the strike zone in the first inning after Texas had staked him to an early 1-0 lead. Needing strikes, Leiter tried one right down the middle to Gunnar Henderson and Henderson did what he often does by depositing it over the fence to even the score.

From there, until another brief bout of wildness in the fifth inning when Baltimore scored their second run, Leiter was cruising with scintillating swing-and-miss stuff. In fact, on the night, Leiter elicited 21 swings and misses in his 92 offerings which is now his big league best total and the third most from a pitcher so far this season.

Supporting Leiter was a lineup that came out looking to make Baltimore starter Chris Bassitt sweat in his first start with the Orioles. Texas worked Bassitt to 70+ pitches into the third inning with leadoff hitter Brandon Nimmo batting in each of the first three frames. However, despite scoring a run in the first and tacking on three more in the top of the second, it felt like the Rangers left a lot of meat on the bone with the early rallies against Bassitt.

Indeed, Texas left ‘em loaded in the top of the first and overall went just 4-for-16 with RISP while leaving 12 runners on base. Two of those hits with RISP didn’t come until Texas added an insurance run in the ninth, so the lack of cracking this one open meant the game remained tight throughout despite the disparity between starting pitchers.

Nevertheless, Nimmo, Jake Burger, and Evan Carter each had a couple of hits apiece and the bats did enough to score early and help Leiter settle in while the run in the ninth helped alleviate the “bloop and a blast” fears.

After three scoreless innings from a trio of Jakob Junis, Jalen Beeks, and Tyler Anderson to follow Leiter, the Rangers are 3-1 and guaranteed no worse than a .500 road trip to open the year.

Player of the Game: Leiter produced a line of six innings, five hits, two runs, one walk, and eight strikeouts to pick up his first win in his first start of the 2026 season.

Leiter’s fourth inning was the highlight of the night as he struck out the side each on a different pitch type and all swinging on 11 pitches with five swinging strikes. Excising just one frame from one baseball game, I don’t think you’d find a better inning for a pitcher than Leiter’s fourth tonight and ultimately he begins the year 1-0.

Up Next: The Rangers haven’t made it official yet but RHP Jacob deGrom is again expected to make his 2026 debut for Texas in tomorrow’s contest. Baltimore will counter with RHP Zach Eflin.

The Tuesday evening first pitch from Camden Yards is again scheduled for 5:35 pm CDT and will be carried on the Rangers Sports Network.

Roster moves

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves. The D-backs’ 40-man roster is at 40.

• Recalled from Triple-A Reno: INF Jose Fernandez (No. 11)
• Placed on the 10-day injured list: INF Pavin Smith (left elbow inflammation; retro to March 29)

Hmm. This is another case where a Diamondbacks player was hurt, is initially cleared to play, and then a few days later has to go on the injured list. Seems to be rather more of a trend than I’d like. Anyway, it gives Jose Fernandez his MLB debut after an impressive spring. He had largely come out of nowhere after being added to the 40-man roster before the Rule 5 draft: at that point, Fernandez was largely unknown to casual fans. This promotion comes after precisely one (1) game at the Triple-A level for Jose, so we’ll see how the 22-year-old right-hander copes. It does leave Arizona with only two “true” lefties (Carroll and Thomas), though there are five switch-hitters.

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What should we expect from Soroka? He had a “meh” spring, with a 7.20 ERA across four starts and twelve innings. However, he did strike out 17 batters. The problem was more the 17 hits and 7 walks allowed. Last season, he had a 4.52 ERA over 22 starts between the Nationals and the Cubs, though his FIP was a little better, at 4.23. The 28-year-old right-hander is in his seventh major-league season since debuting for the Braves in 2018. He was the NL Rookie of the Year runner-up the following season, and arguably should have beaten Pete Alonso. But it has largely been downhill for him since.

After a disappointing series in Los Angeles, the Diamondbacks getting swept by the Dodgers, we return home for the home opener. It’s going to mark the official debut of Michael Soroka. He was signed as a starter over the winter, got bounced to the bullpen after the team re-signed Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, then returned to the rotation because of Kelly’s spring injury. It’s likely this will be a brief return, with potentially only two further starts needed for Soroka. Kelly is scheduled to make rehab starts on April 3rd and 8th, and all being well, would then return to the rotation. I’m thinking Soroka back to the bullpen and Joe Ross DFA’d, but we’ll figure that out when necessary.

Soroka missed almost three years between 2020 and 2023 with massive Achilles tendon issues which required surgery on a trio of separate occasions. That included a complete re-tear in June 2021, while doing nothing more strenuous than walking back to the clubhouse. Since finally recovering, he has a 4.91 ERA, which is an ERA+ of only 85. But as now the #6 starter for Arizona – and #7 when Corbin Burnes comes back – the necessary standard is not going to be very high. Last year, after Burnes/Ryne Nelson, Kelly and Zac Gallen, the rest of the Arizona rotation made 73 starts with an ERA of 5.05. So even Soroka’s post-Achilles norm would be an improvement.

The Yankees passed their first test of the regular season with flying colors, tranquilizing the Giants in a three-game sweep. Now, following an unconventional Sunday off, the Yankees will pay a visit to a popular preseason World Series pick: the Seattle Mariners.

The M’s, of course, came a game away from reaching the Fall Classic last season, but faltered late against the Blue Jays. Much like the Yankees, they’ve returned with a very similar roster from last year, and their pitching rotation is the same lethal crew we’ve gotten familiar with over the past few seasons. Luis Castillo will face the Yankee lineup, while Ryan Weathers faces a stout test in his Yankee debut.

Weathers had his share of struggles in spring training, but he also flashed the wipeout stuff which made the Yankees zero in on him as a sleeper pick for their rotation. Despite an ERA over 8 in Grapefruit League play, he ultimately made the starting rotation over Luis Gil, and tonight will be something of a referendum on whether that decision was a good one.

Castillo is somehow already entering his age-33 season. The affable righty and three-time All Star hasn’t quite been a top-flight arm in recent years, but given the Mariners’ embarrassment of riches in their staff, he doesn’t need to. All Seattle really needs out of him is another season like the ones he’s put out lately: an ERA around 3.50 and at least 30 starts. While he’s theoretically a poor matchup for the Yankees given his tendency to give up the long ball, he’s excelled against the Bombers in his career.

It’s the top-flight lineup tonight for Aaron Boone’s club. Many of the lefties have been stacked together against Castillo: Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice will hit consecutively, as will Jazz Chisholm Jr., Ryan McMahon, and Austin Wells. What’s more notable is an absence in Dan Wilson’s starting nine. The Mariners are giving star catcher Cal Raleigh the night off following his struggles in Seattle’s four-game opening series against Cleveland. Raleigh only went 2-for-15 with ten strikeouts against Guardians pitching. So instead Mitch Garver will catch, and lefty-smasher Rob Refsnyder will start at DH. Can the M’s recreate Raleigh’s production in the aggregate? There’s only one way to find out.

How to watch

Location: T-Mobile Park — Seattle, WA

First pitch: 9:40 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280, Seattle Sports (710 AM)

Online stream: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market)

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

New Series in Seattle 👊#RepBXpic.twitter.com/ACcp7lugao

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 30, 2026

Welcoming the Yankees to town. #TridentsUppic.twitter.com/OTkFFr3KU1

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) March 30, 2026

The Cincinnati Reds ran their win streak to three games on Monday with a hotly contested 2-0 shutout victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the series opener between the NL Central rivals in Great American Ball Park.

Of note was the manner in which the Reds won, as Chase Burns got his first start of the 2026 season and fired 5.0 IP of scoreless, one-hit ball. He struck out 7, walked 3, and generally looked like his completely dominant best self across 78 pitches, putting largely to bed the worries about the de-load outing he dealt with late in spring camp. On top of that, Jose Franco fired 1.2 IP of mostly impressive ball in his big league debut, Graham Ashcraft was electric in fanning a trio in 1.1 IP, and Connor Phillips flashed some pretty electric breaking stuff to lock down his first career save.

Not to be outdone by his fellow new Reds, Sal Stewart had another brilliant day by going 1 for 2 with a pair of walks and a run scored, and Will Benson chipped in with an RBI triple that plated a rumblin’, bumblin’, stumblin’ Eugenio Suarez all the way from 1B in the process.

Speaking of Sal…

What stood out in this one, I think, is just how much the Reds always felt firmly in command despite the game being close throughout. A quiet confidence, I’d say, which is an odd sight for a team who so obviously leaned on players who are very much still establishing themselves. Stewart entered play today as a 22 year old with 71 career big league PA, Phillips notched his first career save, Franco made his big league debut, and the win for Burns was his first as a big leaguer (and just his 8th at any level as a professional).

Other Notes

• Elly De La Cruz drew a walk and singled on a sharp liner up the middle, but he also was thrown out trying to steal 2B for his first CS of the season.
• Through four games, a Reds club that averaged dang near 200 steals a season across David Bell’s final two seasons has just 1 (one) steal as a team.
• Tyler Stephenson and Ke’Bryan Hayes both went hitless again and neither has managed a base knock yet this year. No pressure!
• Tuesday’s game between these two is also slated for a 6:40 PM ET start, and lefty Brandon Williamson will get the start for Cincinnati. Pittsburgh will send out top prospect Bubba Chandler for his first start of 2025 after he impressed in 7 G at the end of the 2025 season at age-22.

The Mariners draw a tough opponent in their quest for their first series win of 2026. The Yankees of New York, New York look every bit the force of nature they’ve been the past few years, with Aaron Judge already climbing the home run leaderboard.

In their attempt to win game one, Seattle will hand the ball to Luis Castillo for his first start of the season. It’s a compelling first opponent for Castillo, who’s pitched some gems against the Yanks, most notably his home debut after being traded to Seattle in 2022, when he pitched eight shutout innings.

His counterpart will be Ryan Weathers, who was picked directly after Jarred Kelenic in the 2018 Draft. He’s looked the part of a fifth/sixth starter when he’s been healthy, though his CSW% (called strikes plus whiffs divided by total pitches) has always run ahead of his strikeout rate, even though those stats are generally tightly correlated. Maybe there’s still more in there. FanGraphs has a write-up of his new pitch this week.

Lineups!

Facing the lefty Weathers, the Mariners will turn back to their righty platoon bats, with Rob Refsnyder and Víctor Robles getting starts at DH and right field. Cal will get his first off day, which makes sense to do today, since it means Garver will face a lefty and Cal will face the top of the Yankees’ rotation over the next couple days. Cal’s absence means we will not see the Refsnyder-Cal-Julio top three that we saw Saturday night against a lefty starter, but I’ll still plug my proposal to shuffle the top three against lefties to be Julio-Refsnyder-Cal.

Aaron Judge is having the worst season of his career with a 53.8% strikeout rate. Pathetic. The Yankees seem to feel this is just the result of only having played three games so far, so it hasn’t cost him his spot in the lineup yet. He’ll bat second tonight.

Pre-Game Reading

• More on the Yanks in the series preview from Jake
• Max’s Minor League Roundups are back baby! We do a lot here at LL, but I think this is something you truly can’t get anywhere else.
• KING 5 (KGW in Portland, KREM in Spokane, and KTVB in Boise) will broadcast ten games this season for free on basic cable. They will still be simulcast on Mariners TV
• Kate’s recap of yesterday’s coming out party for Emerson Hancock
• The story on the Mariners new Sunday Steelhead uniforms

Game Info

First pitch: 6:40 PDT
TV: Mariners TV, which you can a subscription to online or watch on several cable networks. Kate’s got the details.
Radio: 710 KIRO, in Rick Rizzs’s final season