Category: Baseball

The Cincinnati Reds are wasting zero time instituting their outfield (and offensive) shakeup, as Rece Hinds will start Tuesday evening’s series opener against the San Francisco Giants in RF. Hinds, 25, was recalled after Noelvi Marte was optioned to AAA following a horrid start to his 2026 season, and the Reds will hope the improved plate approach Hinds has shown for the better part of the last 13 months with the Bats will now translate at the big league level.

Rece will hit 6th tonight as the Reds stack their lineup with right-handed hitters as the Giants will send left-hander Robbie Ray to the mound for the start. As was mentioned yesterday, Hinds actually has hit right-handed pitching better than southpaws down at AAA for a while now, but the assumption is that he’ll still have a better shot at turning one around than left-handed outfield options Will Benson and, for now, TJ Friedl.

Friedl will start this one on the pine as righty Dane Myers covers CF and leads off.

On the mound for the Reds tonight will be Brady Singer, and there’s a great hope that his blister issues are far enough in the past that he’ll finally be able to put together a more vintage Singer outing. In his trio of outings so far this year his average fastball velocity is down to just 90.3 mph after sitting at 91.5 mph last year (and 92.5 as recently as 2023), and he’s leaning on his sinker usage almost 13% more than he did a year ago. The assumption has been that the blister (or the threat of it coming back) have hampered him a bit from letting it rip 100% the way he’d like, so hopefully that changes for the better beginning tonight.

First pitch is set for 6:40 PM ET, and this one will be on Reds.tv/MLB.tv per usual.

Here’s how the Reds will line up for this one:

The Dodgers took the opener over the New York Mets on Monday night, continuing their season-opening stretch of not yet losing two games in a row. They now head into Tuesday night looking to keep another streak alive — winning all the middle games of a three-game series.

Thus far, the Dodgers are five for five in the second game of a series:

• March 27: Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 4 — Edwin Díaz introduced with live trumpet playing, records first save
• March 31: Dodgers 4, Guardians 1 — Max Muncy homered, Cleveland didn’t score until ninth inning
• April 4: Dodgers 10, Nationals 5 — Second straight early pummeling in Washington D.C., with five runs in first two innings
• April 7: Dodgers 4, Blue Jays 1 — Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed only one run, faced two batters in seventh
• April 11: Dodgers 6, Rangers 3 — Alex Vesia joined the Dodgers birthday save club

Yamamoto has finished six innings in all three of his starts thus far, something Dodgers starters have done 10 times in 16 games this season (10 out of 13 starts by the non-Sasaki members of the rotation), including each of their last four middle games of series.

Dodgers starting pitchers have a 3.44 ERA this season while averaging 5.56 innings per start, and their nine quality starts are one behind the Seattle Mariners for most in the majors. And after Justin Wrobleski’s eight-inning gem on Monday night, the Dodgers will have a well-rested bullpen for the final two games of the homestand before Thursday’s off day.

Mets rookie Nolan McLean gets the ball for New York on Tuesday. The right-hander has 20 strikeouts against only six walks this season, with opposing batters hitting just .140/.234/246 against him.

Tuesday game info

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

If you told someone you were writing a script and had the White Sox at 6-10 a tenth of the way into the season, they’d reply, “Sounds about right. Extrapolates to a normal season for them.” If you then said that half the victories were against the defending AL champions, that same person would say, “That stretches the suspension of disbelief. Better rewrite that part.”

Incredulity would stretch further if you also wrote that the major failure was not from the expected terrible starting rotation, which has instead been very good except for Shane Smith, whose fall has been as rapid as his 2025 Rule 5 rise — back when, it’s worth noting, Ethan Katz was the pitching coach — but rather from a pathetic offense, which was supposed to be much improved.

With Lenyn Sosa off to botch up the Blue Jays’ defense (has there ever been a major league player with less in the way of baseball instincts?) in exchange for an 18-year-old 17th-round draft pick and a PTBNL or Jerry Reinsdorf’s favorite — cash — even last year’s home run leader has departed, so the almighty quest for power, power, POWER!!! becomes even more difficult. Sosa, incidentally, was the last remaining member of a White Sox team that didn’t have a losing record, except for Reese McGuire, who left and came back, so that doesn’t count.

How bad is the lineup? Let us count the ways.

So far in 2026, the Sox are dead last in the majors in scoring runs, at 3.06 per game, even with all the gifts from the Blue Jays and Royals. Sure, small sample size and bats generally warm up with the weather, but that’s true for the other 29 teams as well.

How awful is 3.06 runs per game? Last year, they scored 3.99, which was 27th. Worse yet, even the record-setting 2024 horror team scored more — 3.13 runs per game.

This year’s team is also 30th in average at .193, an astounding 29 points below the 121-loss team, and last in OPS, 34 points below 2024, in both cases by a wide margin. They’ve improved from that team and matched 2025 to tie for 23rd in home runs so far, and beat both years in rank in stealing bases, where they’re 10th with 12.

And apparently Braden Montgomery won’t be riding to the rescue soon, since he’s hitting .212 in Birmingham. San Antonacci, on the other hand, is clobbering the ball in Charlotte.

And, oh, yeah — they’re back to striking out like crazy, second to last. Or second best, if you think striking out is a good thing.

WHO’S TO BLAME FOR THIS MESS?

Well, Jerry Reinsdorf, of course, and to a lesser extent, Chris Getz. But among players, there’s plenty of awfulness to share. And that’s even before we get into a defense that is dead last in both defensive runs saved and RTOT, which is Baseball-Reference’s range factor, and by a wide margin in both cases.

B-R has an algorithm that measures Wins Above Average, a more persnickety version of WAR, by team and position. As you might imagine, the numbers aren’t pretty for the White Sox, but let’s look anyway.

STARTING PITCHING

As you’d expected, a very bright spot, and one that should (we hope) shine even more brightly when Noah Schultz comes in playing the deus ex machina role. The starters come in eighth out of the 30 teams despite Smith’s struggles, a big jump up from last season’s 18th, but — amazingly — below 2024’s fifth. See, I told you that was amazing (but remember, Garrett Crochet was on that team)!

RELIEF PITCHING

The Sox fall here to a dismal 27th, far below last year’s 14th, but — and this is disheartening — in line with 2024’s 28th.

ON TO THE POSITION PLAYERS (PLEASE AVERT THE EYES OF SMALL CHILDREN)

In each case, let’s go to the placement by year, going backward — 2026, 2025, 2024.

Catcher — 28/8/30. Obviously, the absence of Kyle Teel so far has been a major negative, but the collapse of Edgar Quero to a pathetic .162/.244/.162 line (a 21 OPS+) after a solid 2025 is horrid, and McGuire and his .125 average haven’t helped.

First base — 22/29/26. This was supposed to be a really bright spot with the acquisition of Munetaka Murakami. Still, after his red-hot four-homer start that made it look like a brilliant move for the Sox, Murakami has basically hit zilch, now checking in at .157/.323/.392, making the other 29 teams look smarter. Chances are, he’s neither as good as his start, nor as bad as he is now, and he wouldn’t have set records in Japan if he weren’t capable of making adjustments. A .154 BABIP indicates some bad luck, but Murakami’s 34% K rate (even young Kyle Schwarber wasn’t that bad) and 50% grounder rate aren’t good signs.

Second base — 29/25/29. Yep, near the bottom at second, despite Chase Meidroth usually being fun to watch. The problem is, despite occasional cool plays, he scores negatively in both DRS and RTOT, and his average is now down to .196, not workable for a singles hitter, leaving him with a 72 OPS+ despite a good walk rate.

Third base — five-way tie for 5/25/29. That’s a hard jump up to explain since Miguel Vargas is only hitting .180 and is just a wash defensively. Maybe it’s a collapse by other third basemen around the majors.

Shortstop — 16/20/29. Colson Montgomery only had part of a season last year, so he’s beating himself here, despite just hitting .200/.302/.418 for a 108 OPS+ thanks to three homers. His 30% K rate doesn’t help, though, and his hard-hit rate is well below league average.

Left field — 29/28/29. Correlation doesn’t necessarily indicate causation (except when it really does), but the White Sox have lost 100 or more games every season Andrew Benintendi has been on the team. Maybe with Sosa gone, he can go full-time DH and just be bad at offense. Tanner Murray looked good out there Sunday.

Center field — 29/21/26. Turns out, Luis Robert Jr. at his worst was better than whoever the Sox have sent out in his stead, which has mostly been Luisangel Acuña. Having escaped the Sox, Robert is hitting .319 for the Mets, while Acuña is hitting (and slugging) .196.

Right field — 22/22/30. This has been a throw-somebody-out-there-because-we-have-to situation since Austin Hays was hurt, and he only had a 69 OPS+ anyway. Must be a lot of bad right fielders around the big leagues to make it up to 22, though Dustin Harris’ homer-saving catch to save the game Sunday was quite nifty.

WHICH MEANS?

All those top-100 MLB prospect shortstops in the system need to move on up the ladder quickly and spread across the field. Otherwise, … well, let’s not think about it.

Continuing our series from last week, let’s take a look at who showed up the most last week and who stands to gain this week.

Who’s Hot

Ethan Bagwell – 7IP 7H 3ER 0BB 5K

Building off of a great season debut, Ethan Bagwell continued his good work – this time against the Delmarva Shorebirds. That’s now a grand total of 1 walk through two starts (13 IP) for Ethan. He got ahead of batters consistently throughout the game as he landed a first pitch strike to 20 of the 27 hitters he faced. He was primarily a three pitch pitcher, featuring his four-seam (31% usage), two-seam (29% usage), sweeper (26% usage) while also executed a changeup (14% usage) low in the zone multiple times. While his velocity did fluctuate a bit during this start he still averaged 94 MPH on it, reaching 96.

Didier Fuentes – 6IP 2H 0R 4BB 8K, 1 HBP

The strong early work for Fuentes continued in his second start of the season for the Stripers as he threw six shutout innings. Fuentes recorded 13 whiffs on 30 swings, and only really struggled out of the stretch where he picked up three of his four walks. The fastball velocity sat between 96-99 MPH and he continued to locate it at the top of the zone very well. He leveraged the fastball 65% of the time, while he used his slider 30% of the time. Fuentes did also throw his changeup, but it had a usage rate of 5% – a number that hopefully increases as he continues to work up his arm strength.

Tate Southisene – 5g, .263/.462/.632

After a solid opening week of the season, Tate really took off last week showcasing power, speed, and defense in a very strong week for the first round pick. Tate got on base at a great .462 clip and had a homer and two triples, while walking five times, and striking out six. The exit velocity data from Tate has also been very strong as the homer he hit was clocked at 108 MPH. He’s done a good job of working counts and seeing pitches while not expanding and looking for his pitch. On the 8th, when he collected that homer, Tate saw a game high 34 pitches at the plate, and while he did have six plate appearances it is of note that he still led the team.

Honorable Mention: Colby Jones, Jim Jarvis, Eric Hartman, Owen Hackman

Who’s Not

Ben Gamel – 4G, .000/.125/.000

Stripers outfielder Ben Gamel had a week to forget after going 0-for-14 over the last week with 8 strikeouts and just one walk. His time with the Braves, as a whole, hasn’t quite gone the way he had hoped as he’s hitting a paltry .105/.209/.211 through his first 10 games. Luckily for the Stripers his production hasn’t been needed as they have had other players step up. That said, for simple depth reasons, hopefully Gamel can get things going and become a legitimate threat in a good Stripers lineup.

Landon Beidelschies – 1G, 3IP 6H 5ER 3BB 3K

Landon’s first start of the season didn’t go as well as he had hoped. After doing well the first couple of innings, his second trip around the lineup card wasn’t as great. Landon was four-seam (40%), slider (38%), curveball (21%) for the most part and his stuff just didn’t look at crisp with his slider and curveball not really featuring sharp action. His fastball velocity was mainly upper-80s, hitting a max of 91 MPH. For someone with reliever risk because of his arsenal, the fact that he failed to really get through the lineup a second time shows that his overall path might be as a reliever. That said, still just one start made, thus not enough to really draw a conclusion.

Cade Kuehler – 1G, 3IP 4H 5ER 4BB 2K, 1 HBP

It was a very rough start for Cade who simply hasn’t looked the same since his injury. He did induce 8 whiffs in his three innings, but the stuff really lacked. His fastball velocity peaked at 93 but sat more comfortably at 89. This resulted in Cade effectively pitching backwards and trying to get ahead with his slider, and splitter. Unfortunately for Cade, neither pitch was that strong and he ended up walking four and hitting one despite throwing just 62 pitches.

Honorable Mention: Cedric de Grandpre, Jacob Shafer, Kendy Richard

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The Philadelphia Phillies play host to the Chicago Cubs at Citizens Bank Park this evening. 

Philly took the series opener 13-7 last night, but my Cubs vs. Phillies predictions are backing the visitors as underdogs on Tuesday.

Here are my best free MLB picks for this NL clash on April 14.

Who will win Cubs vs Phillies today: Cubs moneyline (+120)

Riley Martin will take the mound as the Chicago Cubs opener tonight, with Colin Rea serving as a bulk reliever. Martin has looked sharp as a reliever, while Rea has a 3.18 ERA this year and pitched to a 3.95 ERA in 159 2/3 frames last season.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Phillies are giving the pill to Aaron Nola, who had an ugly 6.01 ERA in 2025. The veteran right-hander gives up too much hard contact and is susceptible to the long ball.

Martin and Rea are both ground-ball pitchers, and that could be the difference, with both teams boasting plenty of pop in their lineups.

COVERS INTEL: Aaron Nola sits in the bottom 40th percentile in hard-hit rate and barrel rate, with opponents slugging .471 against him since the start of last season.

Cubs vs Phillies Over/Under pick: Over 9.5 (-110)

Although both of these teams have middling numbers this season, they combined for 20 runs last night. Each club scored at a high level last year and has dangerous lineups on paper, so they should find their groove eventually.

I'm expecting the Cubs’ big bats to get to Nola, which is why I like them as underdogs on the moneyline.

That said, I also don't have much faith in Rea, who finished in the 25th percentile in xERA (4.55), xBA (.261), and barrel rate (10.3%) last year.

Cubs vs Phillies odds

• Moneyline: Cubs +120 | Phillies -140
• Run line: Cubs +1.5 (-156) | Phillies -1.5 (+150)
• Over/Under: Over 9.5 (-110) | Under 9.5 (-110)

Cubs vs Phillies trend

The Over is 6-2 in Chicago's last eight games (+4.90 Units / 54% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Cubs vs. Phillies.

How to watch Cubs vs Phillies and game info

Cubs vs Phillies latest injuries

Cubs vs Phillies weather

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He’s back!

And just in time, yesterday was not the opener the Atlanta Braves were looking for to start this homestead against the Miami Marlins. The early pulling of Grant Holmes initially raised concerns until Walt Weiss’ reasoning behind his decision was later explained.

Let’s look at these pitching matchups to gear up for game two in what Braves fans hope will be a get-back after yesterday’s outing.

There’s not really a whole bunch to rediscover as we look at Reynaldo López and what he brings to the mound. Coming in this matchup with a 1.15 ERA, López has been looking pretty dominant and in control during his three appearances thus far (Don’t bring Soler into the mix). Even in his last outing against the Los Angeles Angels, he recorded seven strikeouts across his 4.2 innings before getting pulled.

This outing is more of a continuation for López to pick up where he left off last week, but also a chance to set the tone early against the Marlins in hopes of the offense doing the same (obviously).

So, what should we expect on the other side?

Max Meyer (3.68 ERA) is also coming in for his fourth start of the season. Looking at his record from 2024 and 2025, Meyer tends to perform weaker on the road, gaining a 5.88 ERA away last year across five games. This year, however, things could always shift, especially with the quality of his pitches improving, similar to how his appearances reflected in the beginning of last year before his injury at the end.

The Braves’ offense needs to keep an eye out for his filthy changeup and even sneakier slider, which is his signature weapon of choice to get him out of traffic.

Meyer is learning to stabilize the rest of his five-pitch arsenal to complement his go-to and prolong his successful stint as the rest of the season kicks off.

Game two, the Braves need a bounce-back before the finale, as the only MLB team that hasn’t lost a series yet, they’re looking a lot like themselves, with just a few kinks to straighten out in their armor to produce consistency. What I’ve learned from life and the game of baseball is that it’s not how you start, but how you finish that counts.

And for the Marlins, well, they’re hoping to be the team that puts a stop to their opponents’ strong run. If they clinch today’s win, consider it done.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Tuesday, April 14, 7:15 p.m. EDT

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

TV: BravesVision, Gray TV

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

The Royals and Tigers were projected by many models to be the top two teams in the division, but both have stumbled out of the game to a sub-.500 record. The Tigers perhaps hit rock bottom after suffering a four-game sweep at the hands of the Twins, but righted the ship last weekend with a sweep of the Marlins.

Kansas City Royals (7-9) vs. Detroit Tigers (7-9) at Comerica Park, Detroit, MI

Royals: 3.38 runs scored/game (28th in MLB), 4.06 runs allowed/game (10th)

Tigers: 4.38 runs scored/game (14th), 3.75 runs allowed/game (7th)

Only two teams have hit fewer home runs than the Tigers, and only one team has stolen fewer bases. Top rookie Kevin McGonigle has been as advertised, with hits in 12 of his 15 starts, with four multi-hit games. Catcher Dillon Dingler came on at the end of last year, hitting .296/.355/.441 in the second half. Colt Keith hit .163/.217/.186 against left-handers last year. Zack McKinstry was an All-Star last year, hitting .323/.397/.594 at home.

Kerry Carpenter is a career .219/.284/.313 in 37 games against the Royals. Spencer Torkelson is 0-for-8 with four strikeouts in his career against Cole Ragans. Gleyber Torres is 0-for-9 with four strikeouts against Kris Bubic.

Framber Valdez was the big off-season signing for the Tigers, and the two-time All-Star has the fifth-most fWAR by a starting pitcher since 2022. He throws a sinker half the time, inducing a groundball rate of 59 percent last year. Bobby Witt Jr. is 2-for-20 in his career against Valdez with five strikeouts.

Jack Flaherty had a terrific 2024 with a 3.17 ERA, but regressed last year, tying for the league-lead in losses with a 4.64 ERA. Only five pitchers in baseball have issued more walks than Flaherty this year. He has a 2.78 ERA in six career starts against the Royals.

Keider Montero has been fantastic filling in for an injured Justin Verlander, tossing six shutout innings in a win over the Marlins his last time out. He had a 3.72 ERA in 12 starts last year, but a 5.51 ERA in eight relief appearances. Opponents hit .308 against his slider last year.

Kenley Jansen has 478 career saves, although he is just two-for-three in save opportunities this year. The 38-year-old finished strong last year with a 1.48 ERA in the second half. Will Vest had a 58 percent groundball rate last year, ninth-highest among relievers. Drew Anderson had a 2.27 ERA as a starter last year in the Korean Baseball Organization. The Tigers re-signed Kyle Finnegan after he posted a 1.50 ERA in 16 games following a trade from the Nationals at the deadline last summer.

Fangraphs still has the Tigers with a 34 percent chance of winning the division, with the Royals at 22 percent, and the Twins (23 percent) and Guardians (19 percent) very much in the conversation. This could be a very competitive division, but to stay in it, the Royal will need to better against the Tigers than last year, when they dropped 9 of 13 in head-to-head matchups.

Which teams had the most 1-run games?

Frequent 1-Run Games.  In games through 8 April, the Rockies and the Diamondbacks were tied for the most 1-run games in the Majors.  On 10 April, the changed standings showed the Diamondbacks in the lead with seven 1-run games, the Mariners in second place with six 1-run games, and five(!) teams tied with five 1-run games.

Win-Loss Record.  In games through 10 April, looking seven teams with at least five 1-run games, the Diamondbacks had the most(!) wins. Their win-loss record in 1-run games was 4 wins and 3 losses.

Other teams with positive win-loss records were Blue Jays, Phillies, and Rangers (each with 3-2 records).

Characteristic of 1-Run Games.   Observations:

• In three 1-run games, the Diamondbacks’ opponents never held the lead during the game.  The Diamondbacks prevented their opponents from taking the lead.  None of these were come-from-behind wins.
• In one 1-run game, the Diamondbacks took a 1-run lead in the top of the fifth inning, and after that the opponent was unable to score any runs. After the fifth inning, the Diamondbacks prevented their opponents from taking the lead.
• In 3 of the 7 1-run games, in the eighth inning the Diamondbacks opponents either tied the game or took the lead.   The Diamondbacks allowed their opponents to get back in the game in the eighth inning.

Addendum: After completing this article about the first 14 games, the next two games were 1-run games.

• In game 15 the Diamondbacks lost a 1-run game; thereby increasing their total to eight 1-run games. This loss was unique because the opponents scored the winning runs in the third inning instead of the eighth inning.
• In game 16 the Diamondbacks won a 1-run game; thereby increasing their total to nine 1-run games. This win was unique because it was the Diamondbacks’ first come-from-behind win in a 1-run game.

Why did the Diamondbacks have relative success among the three teams with the most 1-run games?

Scrappy Underdogs Fighting to the Last Out. Although my immediate answer was that the Diamondbacks are the scrappy underdogs that keep fighting to the last out.  But is that correct?  What does the data show?  Most innings with runs scored happened early in the game.

The following table shows the average percentage of innings with at least one run (through 10 April). Data from FanGraphs.

The data are inconsistent with fighting just as hard to the last out.  Scrappy underdogs fighting was not the reason.

Quality-Start Rotation.  Another answer is the rotation.  In the preseason, I wrote that if the rotation, despite my expectation of being average, could achieve quality starts in half their games, that would give the Diamondbacks significant chances to reach the playoffs.  In the first 14 games, only three were quality starts.  In another five games, the starter only allowed one run or less; thereby they kept the Diamondbacks in the game. 

The starters fell short of 50% quality starts.  A quality-start rotation was not the reason. 

Bullpen Shutdowns.  Another answer is that the Diamondbacks bullpen makes a difference.  Thru 10 April, the Diamondbacks and the Pirates were tied for second best in the Majors with 22 shutdown performances by bullpen pitchers.  The Pirates are renown for their excellent pitching, so that is great company.

On the other hand, the Diamondbacks are in a 4-way tie for second most meltdowns (11 meltdowns). 

The Diamondbacks ratio of 2.o shutdowns per meltdown is above average. Although I can confidently state bullpen pitchers made an impact, perhaps that impact was positive in only about two thirds of their appearances. 

My conclusion is that so far, the bullpen was a more likely reason for the relative success in 1-run games.

Summary.

After 14 games, the Diamondbacks led the Majors with seven 1-run games, the Mariners were in second place with six 1-run games, and five(!) teams were tied with five 1-run games. Addendum: After 16 games, they continued to lead the Majors with nine 1-run games.

Characteristics of 1-run games:

• When the Diamondbacks won 1-run games, they prevented their opponenets from taking the lead from the fifth inning forward.
• When the Diamondback lost 1-run games, their opponents either tied the game or took the lead in the eighth inning.

The most likely of three reasons for their relative success (4-3) in 1-run games was their 22 shutdown performances by bullpen pitchers.  The rejected reasons were quality starts by the rotation, and that the Diamondbacks were scrappy underdogs fighting to the last out.

Although the Diamondbacks experienced relative success in 1-run games compared to other teams with frequent 1-run games, they were not at their best.

Colorado Rockies top prospect Ethan Holliday (No. 2 PuRP) has started his first full season of professional baseball with the Low-A Fresno Grizzlies.

Currently, the 19-year-old short stop is slashing .200/.360/.560 in 20 at-bats. Granted, it’s early in the season, and we don’t yet have meaningful data. This comes off a 2025 season where after being drafted, Holliday went .239/.357/.380 in 71 games with the Grizzlies.

Still, on Friday night, Holliday his hit first home run off the 2026 season.

Holliday understands that he’s at the start of a long baseball journey, and he’s prepared to accept what’s ahead and learn from it as he told Purple Row in the closing days of spring training.

“It was a good experience to get out there and fail,” Holliday said of his first taste of professional baseball. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I got to go out there and learn a lot about myself, and I made those physical and mental adjustments.”

Like his teammates, Holliday spent the offseason working to improve based on those lessons.

“I’m more advanced than I was then,” he said, “and I’m going to continue to continue to progress every single.”

Plus, between watching the career of his father, Matt, and his older brother, Jackson, Ethan knows that improvement takes time.

“You can’t expect everything at once in this game. There’s a lot of failure,” he said. “It’s just part of the process. And if you’re process based, everything’s a win.”

Given his baseball lineage coupled with being a top-five draft pick, Holliday is surrounded by noise. But he’s not giving it his attention.

“Those opinions don’t matter to me,” he said. “I’m not playing for their approval or anyone but the people in the dugout. I’m trying to win the games, and I couldn’t care less what people say.”

Even though he’s young, Holliday knows criticism goes with the territory.

“I haven’t really taken it too much to my heart,” Holliday said. “It’s what I signed up for. It’s part of the job description. And people can say whatever they want. They’re not with me every single day, and I know they wouldn’t say it to my face. So I’m just focused on my process and trying to get there out every single day and just completely block out those externals that aren’t really gonna be factors in my life.”

Plus, he’s not losing sight of the big picture.

“I’m trying to go out there and have fun and enjoy the game. And I’ve always loved it.”

And he’s positive headed into 2026.

“I’m adjusting and still getting ready for this long season,” Holliday said. “I’m super excited for it.”

Weekly Pebble Report: April 6th-11th

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes (5-1, 8-7 Overall)

It was a strong week for the Isotopes in the win column as they managed to take five of six games on the road against the El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego Padres). It marked just the eighth time Albuquerque has claimed a minimum of five contests in a set since Minor League Baseball began playing six-game series in 2021. The offense was the star of the series as Albuquerque slashed .329/.397/.603 with 16 doubles, three triples, and 14 homers in the series. They scored 58 runs this week, their most in a series since May 2-7, 2023. They capped off the week with a thriller in extra innings on Sunday, putting up 10 runs in the 10th inning.

⬆️ Stock Up:Carrigg-ing the Offense

The Isotopes got plenty of offense from Cole Carrigg (No. 4 PuRP) over the series. In five games, Carrigg slashed .346/.393/.615 with two doubles, a triple, a home run, seven RBI, four stolen bases, and seven runs scored. In Sunday’s finale, he came up a double shy of the cycle after he went 3-for-5 with that three-run triple and his first Triple-A home run, while swiping two bases. The speedy outfielder, with spells at shortstop, is starting to settle in a bit more at the top of the Isotopes order and continues to build promise for the Rockies.

⬆️ Stock Up:Sullivan the Savant

The Rockies need their pitching prospects to learn to succeed in Triple-A and left-hander Sean Sullivan (No. 8 PuRP) rose to the task this week. Making two starts in the series, Sullivan posted a 2.70 ERA in 10 innings, with seven strikeouts against four walks. In his first outing, he gave up one run on four hits in just four innings, but battled his command, issuing four walks. His next outing went six innings, giving up five runs on seven hits. However, only two counted as earned runs, and his command was on point by striking out four and walking none. Sullivan is another prospect with the potential of making his debut this year and there is a lot to like from the crafty lefty.

Upcoming

The Isotopes head home to welcome the Oklahoma City Comets (Los Angeles Dodgers) on Tuesday.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats (2-4, 4-5 Overall)

It was a tough week for the Yard Goats as they dropped four of six in their second series of the season to the Reading Fightin’ Phils (Philadelphia Phillies). The Yard Goats took the series opener, but a combination of failing to launch on offense—something the Rockies are quite familiar with—and pitching woes saw them drop the next three games as well.

⬆️ Stock Up:Babbling About Brooks

Former Rockies prospect Bradley Blalock is doing well with the Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp after a change of scenery and we’re definitely happy for him. However, his trade seems to have brought the Rockies quite a parting gift. Also featured last week, right-handed pitcher Jake Brooks had yet another fantastic start. Brooks gave up just one earned run via a solo home run in six innings of work and gave up just four total hits. He struck out a career-high 11 batters without issuing a single walk, and now has 20 strikeouts and just one walk on the season.

⬇️ Stock Down:Between a Roc and a Hard Place

Second baseman Roc Riggio (no. 14 PuRP) was obtained last season from the New York Yankees in exchange for pitcher Jake Bird and turned in a strong overall performance over the final 26 games of the season with Hartford. Now on a repeat assignment, Riggio is struggling immensely out of the gate. Riggio has just two hits to start the young season through his first eight games. Against the Fightin’ Phils he went just 1-for-16 at the plate with a double and struck out eight times, though he did draw five walks.

Upcoming

The Yard Goats are headed back home to Dunkin’ Park for a six-game set against the Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco Giants).

High-A: Spokane Indians (2-4, 4-5 Overall)

The Spokane Indians had an up-and-down first full series of the season. They went 2-4 against the Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks), and were only outscored 32-29. They won the first game, but then lost three in a row before salvaging the fifth game behind a strong performance by Jordy Vargas (more on that below).

⬆️ Stock Up:Jordy Var-goes!

Jordy Vargas (No. 21 PuRP) had a stellar outing against the Hillsboro Hops on Saturday, pitching five innings and allowing just one run — a solo homer in the first inning — on one hit with two walks and six strikeouts. It was the right-hander’s longest outing since 2023, having undergone Tommy John surgery in July of that year.

⬆️ Stock Up:Humphrey’s Peak

Outfielder Jacob Humphrey has been off to a torrid start in Spokane so far this season. The 2025 undrafted free agent from Vanderbilt has played in eight games and is slashing .394/.487/.697 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and six RBI. He also has five walks to nine strikeouts and five stolen bases in six tries. Against the Hops he went 8-for-18 with a double, a triple, and a home run while collecting all five of his stolen bases.

⬇️ Stock Down:Wrecht

Brody Brecht (No. 3 PuRP) made his High-A debut this week, and struggled. The 2024 38th-overall pick lasted just 2.2 innings and gave up three runs on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Brecht overall struggled with his command. He threw 49 pitches, only 27 of which were strikes, and he induced just five swinging strikes.

Upcoming

The Indians return home for a five-game set against the Vancouver Canadians (Toronto Blue Jays).

Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies (4-2, 6-3 Overall)

The Fresno Grizzlies enjoyed a successful first homestand of the season with a 4-2 series victory over the visiting Stockton Ports (Sacramento Athletics). The Grizzlies scored eight or more runs in all four of their wins, with their most commanding victory coming in the series finale as they won 11-1.

⬆️ Stock Up:The Representative From California Has the Floor

After having just one hit in the Grizzlies’ opening series, Ethan Holliday found his footing this last week with a strong showing against the Ports. Holliday played in five of the six games during the series and had at least one hit in four of those games. Overall he went a solid 6-for-19 with four RBIs and only struck out five times. He also connected on his first home run of the season.

⬇️ Stock Up:Emener Sandman

After missing essentially the entire 2025 season due to injury, left-handed pitcher Austin Emener is back with the Fresno Grizzlies and getting the job done. Emener pitched the eighth and ninth innings in both of his appearances against Stockton without giving up any runs. He allowed just one hit and two walks while tallying eight total strikeouts—four each—over his two appearances and four innings.

Upcoming

The Grizzlies have a six-game set in store as they head to Ontario, California for their first-ever match-up against the newly formed Ontario Tower Buzzers (Los Angeles Dodgers).

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Most MLB teams, including the Cubs, have gone to all-digital ticketing. You can get a paper Cubs ticket… sometimes… depending on the circumstances.

This began after the pandemic shut ballparks to fans in 2020. The last year the Cubs issued paper season tickets to fans was 2019, and Wrigley Field — plus most other MLB parks — went cashless in 2021 when parks re-opened to fans.

This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Cashless was better for teams, who didn’t have to handle cash (and anecdotally, I heard reports that some rogue employees were stealing cash), and for fans, as long as you have your phone, you can’t forget your ticket.

There have been some glitches. Last September, as I reported here, the MLB Ballpark app got hacked and quite a number of fans, including Cubs fans, lost tickets as a result. Most, though not all, of those tickets were recovered, but as I suggested in that September 2025 article, MLB revamped the Ballpark app and began 2-factor authentication. That’s a must when you have apps with payment information and potentially thousands of dollars worth of tickets stored (as a season ticket holder would).

But here’s the thing. A game ticket isn’t just something that admits you to a stadium. It’s a tangible souvenir of your visit to the ballpark. I have literally thousands of game ticket stubs (and beginning in 2005, when the Cubs put barcodes on the tickets, full tickets) which create memories. Many Cubs season tickets over the years had really nice artistic designs, such as these from the Wrigley Field centennial year in 2014. Those are art, and well worth keeping.

Instead, your digital ticket disappears from the app after the game, so all you have is a record within the Ballpark app that you attended the game. True, you can put photos in the app for each game, but to me at least, a digital record isn’t quite the same as having an actual piece of paper, issued by the team, that you can keep in a scrapbook (people still do those, right?) or elsewhere. I actually had someone suggest that I “print a screenshot” of my digital ticket and… well, no, that’s not the same thing at all.

I bring all this up because of this article on this topic in The Athletic today. The article cites Montreal Expos fan Josée Tellier, who has kept binders of tickets from Expos games she attended, many from decades ago. One of them is from her first game, signed by Andre Dawson:

“Today, when people go to shows or games or whatever, they use their phones to take pictures and to get a memory of that moment, but at the time, who is going to the stadium with that camera? It wasn’t something we were doing at the time,” Tellier said. “So the ticket was the proof that you were there, that you felt the moment, that you saw that magic play.”

That 1986 ticket is her most cherished — not because it was from a championship or record-breaking game, but because it was her first. In 2022, she met Dawson, who signed the card.

“At the time, we didn’t have any money, and this ticket was proof that we were there,” Tellier said. “This little booklet with the ticket inside and my mom’s picture is my most prized possession.”

That’s exactly what I am talking about. These aren’t just pieces of paper that get you into a game, they create memories that can last a lifetime.

The Cubs will sell you a commemorative paper “ticket” for any game you want for $9, which is not unreasonable. I bought one for the combined no-hitter thrown by Shōta Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge in 2024. Here’s what that looks like:

It’s a tangible souvenir, but not quite the same thing as if I had an actual paper ticket that I had used to get into the game.

I was also fortunate enough to get a printed ticket at the Tokyo Dome last year. This one is for the exhibition game the Cubs played against the Yomiuri Giants. (There are two times listed — one is for the gates opening, the other for the start of the game.) This is a great souvenir of my trip to Japan last year.

Teams are getting really stingy about printing souvenir tickets for games now. I did manage to get one in Milwaukee for Game 5 of the Division Series last year — the Brewers will do it for $10.

But the Dodgers wouldn’t even do it for a 50-year season ticket holder:

Errol Segal, who’s been a Dodger fan for 50 years, said he received a notice before the season began that he can no longer get printed tickets.

Segal, 81, owns a recycling center in South LA and said he’ll likely be spending more time there now that the Dodgers have gone fully digital.

“I enjoy working,” Segal said. “I don’t feel my age.”

He said he went to Dodger Stadium Thursday and was able to buy paper tickets, but the team won’t let him get them for the entire season.

“If I had the tickets one year, five years, 10 years, that’s another story,” Segal said. “50 years I’ve had these tickets. They threw me under the bus.”

Segal doesn’t use a smartphone, and I would think you wouldn’t have to buy a smartphone just to go to a sporting event. Apparently the Dodgers disagree.

I get why teams want to do this. Saves printing costs. Makes it easy to have tickets in one place. Oh, and by putting them in the Ballpark app, where you have to log in, teams now know exactly who is using every ticket to every game — data that is useful to them when (for example) setting dynamic pricing.

Incidentally, there is one way for you to create memories for yourself within the Ballpark app, if you don’t mind those memories being digital. The app has a database of games going back to 1901. To find this, click on “Profile” at the bottom of the app, it should show “My History,” all the games you have checked into via the app. Click on the arrow at the right, it will take you to a page showing all your games. Hit the + and you’ll see a screen where you can “Add Past Games.” It took me a while, but I got all my past games in there. Fun and interesting… but still not quite the same as having a paper ticket.

As for Josée Tellier?

In Montreal, with no Expos tickets, print or digital, Tellier goes to Montreal Canadiens games, QR code in hand.

“I really wish we would go back to paper tickets,” she said. Tellier recalled how once, she asked a stadium for the printed version.

They gave her an 8 x 11 printed sheet of paper of her digital ticket.

Like I said… that’s not quite the same. How do you feel about all-electronic ticketing?

Boston Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet is the true definition of an ace: dependable, dominant, and downright terrifying to step into the box against.

So… what the hell is going on?

Crochet has been unusually shaky to kickstart the season, allowing nearly as many runs (18) as strikeouts recorded (22) — with those aggressively poor numbers being fueled by an all-time poor outing against the Minnesota Twins on Monday.

Crochet got absolutely rocked by one of the least intimidating yet surprisingly productive lineups in baseball, allowing 11 runs in only 1 2/3 innings pitched at Target Field. The Red Sox — who have been around for as long as crayons, airplanes, cellophane, and Australia — have never had someone give up as many runs in so few innings.

It’s not like he’s going to ever be this bad again, but check out his pitching summaries on the season:

March 26 @ CIN
6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 R, 8 K
April 1 @ HOU
5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 5 R, 7 K
April 7 vs. MIL
6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 R, 7 K
April 13 @ MIN
1.2 IP, 9 H, 10 ER, 11 R, 0 K

Good. Eh. Good. Nuked.

So… back to our original question. What the hell is going on?

I’ve decided to look at this start through two lenses, which will hopefully tell us whether or not we should be freaking out.

“It’s just a bad start, man. Paul Skenes biffed one a couple of weeks ago!”

Paul Skenes did, indeed, biff one a couple of weeks back, allowing five earned runs in 2/3 inning back on Opening Day against the New York Mets. Randy Johnson gave up 11 in 2 1/3 back in 1994. Greg Maddux allowed eight in the same amount of time in 1988. Roger Clemens allowed eight in 1 1/3 in 1995.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora came out after the game and shut down the idea that his ace was injured:

“He’s healthy, and that’s the most important thing,” he said, as seen on NESN.

Crochet backed that statement up:

“I don’t think there’s anything to fret over,” he said.

It’s just something that happens, even to the best of us.

“I don’t care what you say! I just bought a panic button and intend on using it in four days!”

If you take a closer look at the stuff, you would know that everything was down… across the board.

Crochet threw one of the slowest four-seam fastballs of his career (92.7 MPH) and gave up some of the hardest exit velocities of his career (108.9 MPH, 106.5 MPH, 106.0 MPH) — with those three hits coming in the form of two home runs and a terrifying single. Crochet couldn’t even pinpoint exactly why this particular start went so poorly, as he gave away more free passes (four) than whiffs induced (three).

“It’s tough to say,” Crochet said. “I mean, command as a whole has been spotty. I’d gotten away with it a little this early in the year, but tonight they made me pay. It was weak contact, hard contact, walks, hit by pitch, a little bit of everything.”

If he can’t see what went wrong, how is he going to fix it?

We have never seen him pitch this poorly, and with two of his last four starts being among the four worst he has ever had…

Conclusion:

It’s probably fine.

The Red Sox have seen something like this before, with one very important statistic coming from our pal Jake Roy: Crochet threw 102 pitches in his second start of 2025, leading to his average velocity dipping 1.5 mph in his third start. It’s the same thing here, as the velocity drop came after his 107 pitch performance against the Milwaukee Brewers.

If he can’t get the velocity back to normal on regular rest, there’s no reason to think the results won’t follow.

If he can’t, we’ll revisit this conversation.

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Daulton Varsho is finding a rhythm at the plate, and with a hard-throwing right-hander taking the mound for the Milwaukee Brewers tonight, this is a great matchup for the Toronto Blue Jays outfielder to stay hot. 

Read on to see why Varsho is the featured player in my Blue Jays vs. Brewers predictions and MLB picks for Tuesday, April 14.

Blue Jays vs Brewers predictions

Blue Jays vs Brewers best bet: Daulton Varsho Over 0.5 hits (-125)

Milwaukee Brewers starter Jacob Misiorowski sits around 98 mph on his four-seamer, which he uses at a 62% rate.

Despite the early-season struggles, the Toronto Blue Jays have fared well against the fastball and should match up well against the youngster.

Daulton Varsho leads the Blue Jays in hits against the four-seamer with a .365 average and a 60% hard-hit rate.

Varsho has recorded a knock in four straight games while batting .412 over that span.

COVERS INTEL: Jacob Misiorowski gives up a lot of big contact, ranking in the 36th percentile for hard-hit rate against. 

Blue Jays vs Brewers same-game parlay (SGP)

Kevin Gausman has had a lot of success against this lineup throughout his career, with the Brewers hitting just .177 with a .505 OPS against him. The last time the right-hander saw Milwaukee, he went seven complete innings, allowing just four hits. 

William Contreras is 0-for-6 against Gausman with five strikeouts. The Brewers catcher also has a 40% K-rate against the splitter over the last two seasons.

Blue Jays vs Brewers SGP

• Daulton Varsho Over 0.5 hits
• Kevin Gausman Under 4.5 hits
• William Contreras Over 0.5 strikeouts

Blue Jays vs Brewers home run pick: Daulton Varsho (+425)

Varsho has handled fastballs extremely well to begin the season, and Misiorowski has shown a tendency to give up hard contact when he utilizes the heater. 

That could set up the Jays outfielder for his third home run in four games.

Blue Jays vs Brewers odds

• Moneyline: Toronto +110 | Milwaukee -130
• Run line: Toronto +1.5 (-210) | Milwaukee -1.5 (+170)
• Over/Under: Over 7 (-110) | Under 7 (-110)

Blue Jays vs Brewers trend

Toronto has hit the F5 team total Under in 12 of its last 15 games (+8.75 Units / 46% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Blue Jays vs. Brewers.

How to watch Blue Jays vs Brewers and game info

Blue Jays vs Brewers latest injuries

Blue Jays vs Brewers weather

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The hits just keep coming for the Brewers, and not in a good way. Christian Yelich, who left Sunday’s game early with a hamstring issue, has landed on the injured list, which was not unexpected after manager Pat Murphy’s comments after the game. He’s been diagnosed with an adductor strain. Outfielder Greg Jones, who has been playing for Triple-A Nashville, has been added to the active roster. To make room on the 40-man roster for Jones, reliever Rob Zastryzny, who had a setback in his recovery last week, has been moved to the 60-day injured list.

It’s a blow for Yelich, a productive-when-healthy hitter whose ability to stay on the field is one of the major uncertainties around the modern iterations of the Brewers. The good news is that it’s not his back, which has been the issue that has been giving Yelich so much trouble over the past few seasons. Murphy has been quoted as saying he expects him to be out “for a while.” A little bit of research on past adductor strains suggests that in mild cases, a player can miss as little as two weeks, but in more serious cases, it’s a 4–6-week injury. Given Yelich’s age and relative frailty, the early juncture of the season, and Murphy’s comments, I would expect Yelich to be out closer to the long end of that estimate.

Jones, 28, has appeared briefly in the big leagues with the Rockies and White Sox in the past two years. He was a 2019 first-round pick of the Orioles and even worked his way into the back end of MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospects prior to the 2022 season, but he has struggled offensively since then and hasn’t been able to catch on in a big-league role. In 13 games with Triple-A Nashville this year, Jones is hitting .317/.462/.390. Jones has the outline of a player who the Brewers like — he is athletic, speedy (he stole 46 bases in just 89 games for Colorado’s Triple-A team in 2024), and a reliable defensive outfielder — but he’s struck out way too much in his minor league career, and I have my doubts that he’ll be able to hit major league pitching.

This probably isn’t the move that Brewers fans were clamoring for. Milwaukee is in a deep offensive funk and are now without three of their best hitters. A move with more upside would certainly have been more popular — Jett Williams, Luis Lara (who doesn’t profile as a plus hitter but has been very good to start the season), even Eddys Leonard, who is right-handed (unlike Yelich) but offers more upside offensively. This is especially unfortunate timing for Tyler Black, who would’ve been the most interesting and sensible move here. But Black, like Chourio and Vaughn, fractured a bone in his hand in late March.

It’s possible that Williams (who has not exactly been lighting it up with Nashville) is still in the Brewers’ short-term plans, but that the team wants to get past the service-time deadline in which they’d secure an extra year before promoting him. We don’t know exactly when that would be, but it would probably come sometime in the last week or so of April.

For now, the Brewers will have to make do with what they have, which increasingly seems like not much. Chourio remains the player nearest to a comeback, but is probably, at minimum, two weeks away. Vaughn is likely out until mid-May, and we’ll wait on an update for Yelich but I’d expect that mid-May would be an optimistic scenario for him.

Update: Yelich’s timeline is mid-to-late May, right in line with the 4-6 weeks outlined above. Jackson Chourio’s expected return has also been pushed back to early May.

Afforded the third overall pick in last year’s draft, the Seattle Mariners entered draft day with long odds of selecting Kade Anderson. The player many considered the best of the 2025 talent pool, Anderson was undoubtedly the best pitcher in college baseball last year and dominated opposing hitters all season long. In one of the more shocking draft day happenings of recent memory, both the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels passed on Anderson in favor of money saving options, sliding the left hander down to the number three spot for the Mariners to capitalize and secure a premium talent. A series of incredibly unlikely events needed to occur in order for Anderson to end up in the PNW, but fortunately for Mariners fans, that improbability became reality.

Anderson possesses a level of polish most 21 year olds will never have on the mound, defining his success as a pitcher through deception, pitchability, and tunneling. His fastball, typically sitting around 93-94 mph, gets solid carry through the zone and is a perfectly fine offering, though its primary utility is to set up his excellent secondary offerings. His changeup kills velocity well and gets good fade to his arm side, serving as a weapon he can deploy against righties to get swing and miss. His slider, a sweeping breaker that’s in the mid to upper 80’s, is hellish on lefties and is probably his best overall pitch considering its raw metrics. Finally, Anderson has a curveball at his disposal, a pitch he can both bury for whiffs or sneak in early to steal a strike. The velocity isn’t going to jump off the page, but it’s enticing stuff nonetheless.

Raw “stuff plus” models anyone can seemingly screenshot and share are probably not going to like Anderson very much, but these numbers lack full context of what makes a pitcher good, and punishing a player that’s done nothing but dominate because of that would be foolish. How an arsenal works together, how deceptively it’s deployed, and where these offerings are located are just a few of the many factors that raw “stuff” models don’t account for, and they’re a big part of why Anderson is so dominant on the mound. Models can be helpful tools, but it doesn’t make them gospel.

Plus command with above average stuff from the left side is always going to play, and he’s proven that thus far in his brief introduction to professional baseball. Over his first two games for Double-A Arkansas, Anderson has pitched to a line of 9 IP/ 5 H/ 0 ER/ 17 K/ 3 BB, a truly ridiculous start to a career at a level where he’s ~3.5 years younger than the average player. Having already been the best pitcher in the SEC for a full season and now mowing through the Texas League, perhaps the likelihood we see a 2026 major league debut for Mr. Anderson is far more likely than it was six months ago. The organization doesn’t have to (nor should they) rush him to the majors, but if he forces their hand, Anderson would provide the team yet another home grown arm that could contribute to this team’s success for years to come.