Category: Baseball

The St. Louis Cardinals begin one of their toughest stretches of the young season as they kick off a 4-game series in Pittsburgh Monday night. Dustin May (3-2 with a 5.84 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Cardinals. Mason Montgomery will make the start for the Pirates. First pitch scheduled for 5:40pm St. Louis time Monday.

The Cubs welcomed back a member of their Opening Day bullpen before Monday night’s game in San Diego when they activated right-hander reliever Phil Maton from the 15-day injured list.

Maton had been placed on the IL April 10 (retroactive to April 8) with right knee tendinitis. He had posted a 13.50 ERA (six earned runs in four innings) before the IL stint. He threw one scoreless inning in a rehab assignment at Triple-A Iowa last Friday.

Maton had been signed to a $6 million deal this past offseason with an $8.5 million team option or $3 million buyout for 2027. His last three relief seasons had been very good, with a combined 3.15 ERA in 202 relief appearances covering 191.1 innings, with 215 strikeouts and only 16 home runs allowed. Hopefully Maton can get back to that level of performance; the Cubs surely need it.

Charlie Barnes, who was recalled Sunday along with Yacksel Rios, was optioned back to Triple-A Iowa. Barnes threw three innings for the Cubs May 13 in Philadelphia, allowing four runs (three earned), the last game the Cubs lost before the 10-game winning streak.

But the Cubs still need more relief help. And so this seems a good place for me to ask you this: Jordan Romano, who had been very good from 2021-23 with 95 saves for the Blue Jays, has been pretty bad the last three seasons for the Jays, Phillies and Angels. This year Romano had a 10.13 ERA and 2.125 WHIP in 11 games (eight innings) for the Angels, who designated him for assignment Sunday.

Once Romano clears waivers, assuming he opts for free agency, worth a flyer? The Cubs can use just about any live arm they can find. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Today’s game preview will post at 6:30 p.m. CT.

Here’s the Rays’ lineup:

Here’s the Guardians’ lineup:

Let’s go, Guardians!

Hey look, Roman Anthony’s back! That’s nice. The Sox are in Canada for the first time this year to take on the Blue Jays tonight at 7 p.m. Here’s who’s playin’ behind Ranger Suarez:

As for the World Series American League Champions, Dylan Cease leads the Blue Jays on what I understand to be Ernie Clement jersey night (not a joke):

And here are some funny dogs. Go Sox!

The Pirates added pitching depth over the weekend to help their bullpen during an extended stretch without an off day.

Pittsburgh recalled right-handed reliever Cam Sanders during the Milwaukee series and remains with the Pirates for the first of four against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Braxton Ashcraft was placed on the bereavement list as a corresponding move. Ben Cherington said the expectation is that Ashcraft will return to the Pirates during the Cardinals series. 

Ashcraft is in line to start on Tuesday night at PNC Park.

Sanders joins the team for the second time this season, looking for a longer stay than before.

He pitched two innings on Sunday in a 5-0 loss to the Brewers. Sanders didn’t allow a run on one hit, one walk, and struck out one hitter.

Sanders’ previous outing on April 18 was a struggle. He failed to record three outs and allowed four runs on three hits and a walk against Tampa Bay. Both outs were strikeouts, but promoted Sanders to be sent back down the next day.

The Pirates play their seventh of a 13-game stretch without an off day, concluding on Sunday hosting the Reds.

The team will have the first three Mondays of May off.

The 16-12 Pirates face an important early-season stretch against the Cardinals and Reds in a jam-packed NL Central as all five teams are over .500.

It’s another Monday off day for the San Francisco Giants, and another mega recap of a busy weekend for the Minor League Baseball affiliates. Let’s jump into the action for the four teams that are in-season.

Link to the 2026 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.

News

The Giants ended an experiment, by releasing High-A Eugene catcher Diego Cartaya. Cartaya had once been one of the best prospects in all of baseball while with the Dodgers, but fell on very hard times. The Giants signed him to a Minor League deal late last year and had him start this season in High-A, hoping to fix the hole in his swing that had developed in the upper Minors. That sadly didn’t happen, as he hit just 3-28 with 23 strikeouts this year.

Taking his place behind the dish for Eugene is Luke Shliger, who was activated off the 7-Day IL. Most excitingly, Eugene also activated LHP Jacob Bresnahan (No. 11 CPL) off the IL.

Some prospects also took home some hardware, as Eugene RHP Yunior Marte (No. 25 CPL) and Low-A San Jose RHP Keyner Martinez (No. 10 CPL) were named the Pitchers of the Week in the Northwest League and Cal League, respectively. Way to go!

AAA Sacramento (14-11)

Friday: Sacramento River Cats beat the Albuquerque Isotopes 4-3 [box score]
Saturday Game 1: Sacramento River Cats lost to the Albuquerque Isotopes 5-3 (7 innings) [box score]
Saturday Game 2: Sacramento River Cats beat the Albuquerque Isotopes 9-2 (7 innings) [box score]
Sunday: Sacramento River Cats lost to the Albuquerque Isotopes 8-6 [box score]

It feels like Sacramento has really settled into being a standard AAA team, which is to say everyone is playing well enough to feel like quality insurance options should the team need them, but nobody is really making a name for themself as a player to watch as they push for a roster spot.

First baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 1 CPL) is, of course, always a player to watch, and he salvaged a good-not-great showing with his final plate appearance of the 4-game weekend, when he bopped a 2-run home run in the 9th inning on Sunday.

For the weekend, Eldridge hit 5-13 with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts, which raised his OPS to .874 and his wRC+ to 136. Crucially, he entered the off day and the next series with some much-needed momentum, as all his hits came in the final 2 games … after being held hitless on Friday and Saturday’s opener, Eldridge was mired in a 6-game slump where he’d hit just 1-21 … so seeing him go 5-9 to end the weekend was a very welcome sight. As was having just 2 strikeouts in 16 plate appearances over the weekend, which lowered his K rate to 29.5%. Getting closer to moving out of red flag territory on that front.

The other hitter in Sacramento who isn’t far from getting the call to the bigs is catcher/left fielder Jesús Rodríguez (No. 16 CPL), and he had another fine weekend, hitting 5-11 with a double, 2 walks, 2 stolen bases, 2 strikeouts, and an error. Rodríguez is up to an .878 OPS and a 136 wRC+, but it’s the way that he’s doing it that surely is exciting the Giants. While he hasn’t been displaying a lot of power (he has 2 homers and 6 total extra-base hits in 93 plate appearances), he’s simply been the contact maven that he was advertised as, posting a .346 batting average and a 9.7% strikeout rate, numbers that rank 6th and 5th, respectively, out of 81 qualified hitters in the Pacific Coast League.

How to find time for Rodríguez in the Majors is certainly a puzzle. If Daniel Susac’s injury lingers, the Giants could have Rodríguez replace Eric Haase, but he won’t be usurping Susac anytime soon. The Giants have been playing him at both second base and left field lately, but Luis Arráez is doing exactly what San Francisco has asked, while Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee have been two of the team’s hottest hitters lately (behind only Casey Schmitt, who is blocking both Rodríguez and Eldridge’s opportunity at DH). So it will probably take an injury for Rodríguez, who turned 24 on Thursday, to make his debut.

Injuries are definitely what it will take for center fielder/right fielder Grant McCray to get back to the Majors anytime soon, as he was already passed over in favor of Jared Oliva on the Opening Day roster, and then Drew Gilbert and Will Brennan when the team had injuries. His season has been quite a struggle, but he did make some noise on Friday when he smashed his 1st home run of the season.

Over the course of the weekend, the lefty hit 2-10 with 4 strikeouts and committed an error. It’s really been a dismal season at the plate for the 2019 3rd-rounder, who has a .636 OPS and an 84 wRC+. But even those numbers make things look rosier than they are, as his success has largely been propped up by an absurd 19.6% walk rate. Simply put, McCray isn’t doing any damage when swinging, Friday’s big fly notwithstanding … of the PCL’s 81 qualified hitters, McCray’s .194 batting average is 75th, while his .083 isolated slugging is 67th. He has cut back on the strikeouts, though, lowering his rate from 27.1% last year to 23.9% this year, and crucially dropping his swinging strike rate from 14.0% to 9.1%. It seems he’s being a bit too passive at the plate.

Second baseman Nate Furman (No. 39 CPL) also went deep, as part of a weekend where he hit 4-16 with a solo blast, a double, a walk, a hit by pitch, a strikeout, and an error.

Furman’s debut pass through AAA has been a smashing success, as he has a .905 OPS and a 150 wRC+, with just a 12.8% strikeout rate. Given his relative inexperience (he has just 44 games at AA and AAA combined) and the fact that he’s not on the 40-man roster, Furman is likely a bit behind Rodríguez should the Giants need a second baseman, but it wouldn’t be tremendously surprising if he’s given a chance to win the job next year, as Arráez is only on a 1-year deal.

Third baseman Buddy Kennedy and shortstop/third baseman/left fielder Thomas Gavello also went deep. Kennedy hit 2-10 with a 3-run blast, a double, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts, moving his OPS to .907 and his wRC+ to 144; Gavello went 1-10 with a solo bomb, a walk, and 4 strikeouts, and now has a .620 OPS and a 54 wRC+.

On the pitching front, Friday saw a much-needed excellent start from RHP Trevor McDonald (No. 12 CPL), who had his best outing in a very long time. The versatile righty was dynamic through 5 shutout innings, offering up just 2 hits (both singles) and 2 walks, while striking out 3 batters and living off of soft contact. It wasn’t the best strike-throwing display for McDonald, who threw 70 pitches with 43 strikes, but he kept hitters off balance all day.

McDonald had a brilliant start to Spring Training and looked close to locking down an Opening Day roster spot before completely falling apart. His last few outings of the Cactus League were disasters, and he opened the AAA season with 4 consecutive rough outings. Hopefully his 5th is the start of the course correcting, because neither RHP Carson Seymour nor LHP Carson Whisenhunt (No. 8 CPL) has stamped their name on the 6th starter role. Let’s see if McDonald, who now has a 5.40 ERA and a 5.61 FIP on the year, can start to make a run for it.

Saturday’s pair of starters were not nearly as good as McDonald, but they managed to be nearly as effective. LHP Seth Lonsway took the mound for the opener and struggled with command, walking 4 batters in 5 innings and hitting another, while throwing 42 of 76 pitches for strikes. But Lonsway only allowed 3 hits and just 1 run, while striking out 3. The 27-year old 6th-round pick from the 2021 draft has 4.50 ERA and a 5.87 FIP on the year … he’s only allowed 16 hits in 16 innings, which is impressive in the PCL, but he also only has 5 strikeouts.

In Game 2 it was fellow funky LHP John Michael Bertrand, who had a very funny line. Bertrand went 6 innings and gave up 9 hits, but all 9 of those hits were singles. He also walked 2 batters, yet the only run he allowed was unearned, due to a Rodríguez error. Not every day you give up 11 baserunners and 0 earned runs! Bertrand, who struck out 5, has a 4.57 ERA and a 6.35 FIP on the season. Both he and Lonsway are being used as starters in Sacramento, but it feels likely that if they make the Majors it will be as multi-inning relievers.

Not a very good weekend for the relievers on the 40-man roster. LHP Sam Hentges and RHP Joel Peguero (No. 27 CPL) continued their rehab assignments, with mixed results. Hentges gave up 2 earned runs while recording just 2 outs on Friday, but bounced back with a 6-pitch perfect inning on Sunday. Peguero gave up just 1 baserunner in his lone inning of work, but that baserunner was a solo home run.

RHP Spencer Bivens had another tough outing, giving up 3 hits and 3 runs (2 earned) in an inning of work, with a strikeout, raising his ERA to 5.40 and his FIP to 6.36. RHP Tristan Beck allowed 3 hits, 1 walk, 4 runs, and 2 earned runs in just 1.1 innings, with 1 strikeout, and now has a 3.48 ERA and a 3.03 FIP. RHP Dylan Smith struck out 2 batters with 1 walk in a scoreless inning on Friday, but ceded 3 hits, 2 walks, and 3 earned runs in 1.1 innings on Sunday, with 1 strikeout, raising his ERA to 3.24 and his FIP to 3.81.

The non-rostered depth options weren’t great, either, as neither RHP Gregory Santos nor LHP Juan Sánchez (No. 41 CPL) were at their sharpest. RHP Trent Harris (No. 29 CPL) however, was, as he retired all 5 batters he faced, with 3 strikeouts.

AA Richmond (17-3)

Friday: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Somerset Patriots 7-6 [box score]
Saturday: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Somerset Patriots 9-1 (7 innings) [box score]
Sunday: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Somerset Patriots 4-3 (10 innings) [box score]

Richmond’s magical season just keeps on going. The Squirrels ran their winning streak to 4 games, and pushed their record to 17-3, and they did it with their usual theatrics: twice they entered the 9th inning with fewer runs than their opponent, only to successfully mount a comeback.

Friday’s walk-off was particularly heroic, as the Squirrels were down to their final strike, and still trailing, and didn’t even have the tying run on base. But third baseman Parks Harber (No. 17 CPL), playing in his 1st game of the season after returning from a hamstring injury, and 0-4 with 3 strikeouts on the day, kept the game alive with a double on a 2-2 pitch.

Richmond then pinch-hit with catcher Drew Cavanaugh (No. 19 CPL), who fell behind in the count 0-2, then fouled off a pitch, then blasted a 2-run home run to end the game. What excitement!

Cavanaugh didn’t play on Saturday, but followed up the heroics on Sunday by hitting 1-3 with a walk and a stolen base as his magnificent season continues, following his 2025 breakout. Cavanaugh isn’t playing full time, as he’s splitting catching duties with Adrián Sugastey, but in 53 plate appearances is posting a blistering 1.137 OPS with a 196 wRC+. Perhaps most impressively, after posting a 27.4% strikeout rate across all 4 A-ball affiliates last year, Cavanaugh has dropped that number to 19.7% this season.

As for Harber, he wasn’t done with the theatrics, as he played the hero in Sunday’s walk-off, when he singled home the winning run in the 10th inning.

Harber’s numbers weren’t great over the weekend, as he hit 5-14 with 7 strikeouts, but that’s to be expected from someone making both his season and AA and season debut, against pitchers who are fully up to speed. It’s just great seeing him back on the field and making an impact.

Also playing a heroic role was shortstop Maui Ahuna (No. 23 CPL), who was responsible for sending Sunday’s game to extra innings. Richmond trailed by a run in the 9th inning, with 2 outs and the bases empty. But Ahuna rapped a double, stole 3rd, and scored on a wild pitch, sending the game to the 10th where Harber would walk it off. Ahuna hit 3-8 with a double, 2 stolen bases, and 1 strikeout over the weekend, and now has an .826 OPS and a 116 wRC+ in his debut AA season. There’s still a ton of swing and miss in his game (30.3% K rate, 18.1% swinging strike rate), but it’s been a very successful season for him.

Speaking of successful seasons, Richmond’s corner outfielders, Jonah Cox and Scott Bandura, continued their excellent seasons. Cox hit 4-10 with a home run, a double, a walk, a stolen base, and 2 strikeouts, which saw his OPS climb to 1.167 and his wRC+ to 205, to make no mention of the organization-leading 12 stolen bases in just 18 games. It’s been a stunning start to the year for the A’s 6th-round pick in 2023, after he was decidedly average offensively in High-A a year ago. The numbers will surely regress, but still … we’re seeing a lot of encouraging signs with the bat for someone whose calling cards are his glove and his cleats.

As for Bandura, he went just 1-9 with 5 strikeouts on the weekend, but smashed a 2-run home run, drew 5 walks, and stole a base. He now has a .971 OPS and a 152 wRC+ on the season and, after posting a 30.6% strikeout rate during his 45-game stint with Richmond last year, is all the way down to 17.5% this season, despite the weekend swing-throughs. We’re seeing some really big improvements in contact on the farm.

Bandura and Cox have starred this year, but get a little overlooked by the star prospect they flank, center fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL). Davidson returned to the lineup after missing a few games with a forearm issue, but he really struggled, hitting just 1-8 with a sacrifice fly and 5 strikeouts. Between the injury and parental leave, Davidson hasn’t been able to really get into a rhythm yet this year, and has just a .688 OPS and a 69 wRC+.

There were a pair of dynamic pitching performances from under-the-radar prospects. On Saturday it was RHP Darien Smith, who started the game and tossed 6 brilliant innings, allowing just 5 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run on a solo home run. Smith, who needed just 72 pitches to get through his 6 innings (though just 45 of them were strikes), also struck out 5 Somerset hitters.

The 26-year old undrafted free agent, who is in his 2nd season, has made 4 starts this year and has allowed 0 or 1 run in each of them, and has just a 1.35 ERA and a 3.86 FIP. He doesn’t have the most dynamic stuff — he averaged 8.7 strikeouts per 9 innings between Low-A and High-A last year, and is at 8.6 this season — but he simply doesn’t allow many batters to reach base. In 20 innings this year, Smith has ceded just 10 hits and issued 5 walks.

But the biggest pitching performance came from Sunday’s piggybacking starter, LHP Cesar Perdomo. The 24-year old took over to start the 5th inning, and pitched all the way through the 10th. He gave up just 1 hit (a single) in his 6 innings, while walking 2 and striking out 4. Most importantly, Perdomo didn’t allow any runs to cross the plate … not even the Manfred Man in extra innings. Perdomo has been excellent in 3 of his 4 outings this year, resulting in a 2.16 ERA and a 3.53 FIP … numbers that are better than his High-A stats were last year. Like Smith, Perdomo doesn’t strike out a lot of batters (he has just 8.1 Ks per 9 innings this season), but he just doesn’t allow a lot of damage. It wouldn’t be too surprising if he finds his way to AAA late in the season.

High-A Eugene (16-5)

Friday: Eugene Emeralds beat the Hillsboro Hops 9-4 [box score]
Saturday: Eugene Emeralds beat the Hillsboro Hops 5-2 [box score]
Sunday: Eugene Emeralds beat the Hillsboro Hops 3-1 [box score]

Just as the big news in Richmond was the return of Parks Harber, the big news in Eugene was the return of LHP Jacob Bresnahan (No. 11 CPL). Bresnahan, who was the 4th pitcher listed on our community prospect list, but is the top pitcher on a lot of national Giants prospect lists, started the season in extended spring training due to a minor injury. But on Sunday he made his season debut, and his High-A debut.

It wasn’t great from a statistical standpoint, but it certainly wasn’t awful, either. The soon-to-turn 21-year old, who was taken in the 13th round in 2023 by the Guardians and traded to the Giants in the Alex Cobb deal, went 3.2 innings in his season debut, and gave up just 2 hits (both singles) and 2 walks, but got tagged for 2 runs. Not surprisingly given the rust, he struggled with the strike zone, throwing just 32 of 56 pitches for strikes.

But it was a very encouraging outing for the reigning Cal League Pitcher of the Year, who struck out 4 batters. Bresnahan retired the 1st 10 batters that he faced, before allowing all of his baserunners in a 4th inning that he wouldn’t make it out of (he also left with just 1 run in, but the bases loaded and 2 outs, before RHP Ryan Vanderhei hit a batter to let a run score).

All things considered, a very nice start to the year for Bresnahan, and it will be fun watching him settle into this level.

Speaking of settling in, LHP Luis De La Torre (No. 14 CPL) is still searching for a way to do exactly that. He had a nearly identical outing to Bresnahan on Saturday, at least on paper: 3.2 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 2 runs, 5 strikeouts, with 47 of 78 pitches for strikes. Just like Bresnahan, De La Torre was on fire to open up the game, cruising through 3 scoreless innings and retiring the 1st 8 batters that he faced. Trouble struck in the 4th, though, when he issued both of his walks and then a 2-run double, which ended his night. Still, a big step in the right direction for LDLT, who has just a 7.50 ERA and a 5.86 FIP this young season.

RHP Hunter Dryden had his worst outing of the year on Friday, though it was still solid (and similar to Bresnahan and De La Torre’s): 4.1 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 2 earned runs, and 4 strikeouts. Dryden entered the year having allowed just 1 run in 3 starts, so this was definitely not a good game when judged against the high bar he set, but the 2024 17th-round pick has a delightful 1.88 ERA on the year (though just a 4.27 FIP). Dryden is walking a ton of batters, but hitters are generally useless against him when they do swing: in 14.1 innings this year, the soon-to-turn 24-year old has struck out 18, while allowing just 5 hits.

Eugene only played 3 games this weekend, but they used 4 starters, as RHP Yunior Marte (No. 25 CPL) was the piggybacking starter on Saturday. And he shined the brightest of the 4, tossing 5 shutout innings while allowing just 1 hit and 2 walks, and striking out 6 batters. Marte threw 41 of 65 pitches for strikes as he mowed down the Hops batters, and lowered his ERA to 1.89 and his FIP to 3.41. The strikeout and walk numbers aren’t gaudy — 17 and 8, respectively, in 19 innings — but, like Dryden, he’s just not allowing any damage when people swing (he’s given up just 8 hits and 0 home runs).

On offense, the biggest day belonged to left fielder Lisbel Diaz (No. 32 CPL), who hit 2-5 with a pair of home runs on Friday, knocking in 3 runs. What a gorgeous swing he has.

Diaz — who sat on Saturday, and went 1-4 with a strikeout and a caught stealing on Sunday — isn’t having a great year, as he has just a .675 OPS and a 77 wRC+, and is still in search of his 1st walk. But there are some nice signs, certainly: despite not being the biggest player, and just being 20, he’s shown off some good power this year, with a .236 isolated slugging rate that ranks 6th out of 57 Northwest League hitters (minimum: 50 plate appearances). He’s also struck out just 10.0% of the time this year, a fabulous mark even for a player who has always limited strikeouts. If he can get his batting average up — it’s just .218 — he could end up having a nice year.

Center fielder Dakota Jordan (No. 5 CPL) also went deep (breaking a tie in the 9th inning!) for the Emeralds during a so-so weekend in which he hit 2-10 with a solo blast, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, an outfield assist, and a caught stealing. The 2024 4th-round pick has been Eugene’s best performer this year, as he has a .940 OPS and a 158 wRC+, but the 30.0% strikeout rate and 16.1% swinging strike rate paint a picture of a power hitter who still has a lot to work on.

Speaking of players with a lot to work on, it was a tough weekend for third baseman Walker Martin, who hit just 2-12 with 6 strikeouts, while committing 3 errors. The team’s 2nd-round pick in 2023 has shown a power improvement this year, and has a .794 OPS and a 125 wRC+, but his 28.6% strikeout rate and 9 errors in 16 games is fairly concerning.

Shout out to catcher/first baseman Ty Hanchey who had a nice end to the series, hitting 3-11 with a home run, a double, and 3 strikeouts, raising his OPS to .784 and wRC+ to 112. Hanchey is a little bit more organizational depth than prospect — he’s a 26-year old UDFA in his 4th pro season (though he missed all of last year due to injury) — but catchers always have a chance to prove themselves, and Hanchey should get a little more run now with Diego Cartaya released.

Low-A San Jose (14-7)

Friday: San Jose Giants lost to the Ontario Tower Buzzers 7-3 [box score]
Saturday: San Jose Giants lost to the Ontario Tower Buzzers 7-4 [box score]
Sunday: San Jose Giants lost to the Ontario Tower Buzzers 18-9 [box score]

It’s been a great season for the Baby Giants, but it certainly wasn’t a great weekend, as they lost all 3 games. Their starters got absolutely rocked, and the offense was more mediocre than great, and was held without a single home run.

Shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 3 CPL) has cooled down following his utterly absurd start to the season, but he’s still hitting quite well, and the weekend was an example of his no-longer-Barry-Bonds-but-still-damn-good current state. The just-turned 19-year old switch hitter went 5-12 over the weekend with a triple, a walk, a hit by pitch, a stolen base, 3 strikeouts, and 2 caught stealings. It’s now a 1.066 OPS and a 163 wRC+ for Level, who has probably been the MVP of the farm system so far this season, and certainly looks like he’ll have vacated his post in San Jose by the time Josuar González (No. 2 CPL) and/or Luis Hernández (No. 6 CPL) are ready to inherit it.

First baseman Hayden Jatczak also continued his obliteration of the Cal League, with a pair of games that were excellent in very different ways. After sitting on Friday, Jatczak had 5 plate appearances on Saturday … and 0 official at bats, as he drew 4 walks and hit a sacrifice fly. He followed that up by emphatically putting the ball in play on Sunday, hitting 3-5 with a double and a strikeout. Jatczak has a 1.013 OPS and a 163 wRC+ in this, his debut season, with an elite walk rate (23.6%) and a very good strikeout rate (18.0%). I’m curious how long he’ll stay in San Jose, and when the Giants will start trying to see what is a more appropriate level for the 24-year old UDFA.

Isaiah Barkett showed off a little bit of everything over the weekend, starting with his defensive versatility: he played Friday at second base, Saturday in right field, and Sunday at third. He hit 3-9 over the trio of games with 2 doubles, 3 walks, a sacrifice bunt, and a strikeout. Last year’s 10th-round pick is quietly having an awesome debut season, as the 22-year old righty is sporting a .999 OPS and a 157 wRC+, with a brilliant 11.1% strikeout rate.

The pitching was mostly bad, as evidenced by the 32 runs that San Jose allowed in 3 games. But there were a few standout performances nonetheless. The biggest such day belonged to RHP Ubert Mejias, who had a sensational showing on Saturday. Mejias entered with 2 outs and a runner on 2nd base in the 2nd inning, and proceeded to retire 14 consecutive batters. 14! That streak finally ended when he gave up a solo home run, before getting 2 more outs and calling it a day.

In all, it was 5.1 brilliant innings for Mejias, with that home run being the only baserunner he allowed, all while striking out 9 hitters. Talk about dominant! Home runs have been the only issue for the 25-year old Cuban this year … in 15.1 innings across 5 outings, he’s struck out 19 batters, while giving up just 9 hits and 4 walks. But 3 of the 9 hits he’s allowed have cleared the fence, which has resulted in a 2.93 ERA and a 5.81 FIP. This is Mejias’ 3rd pass through San Jose — he was in the rotation in 2024, before switching to long relief a year ago — so it’s probably a make-or-break season for him.

RHP Mauricio Estrella had a nice game on Friday, allowing just a single in 3 shutout innings, while striking out 3. The just-turned 22-year old is also at the level for the 3rd time, though he pitched there very sparingly in 2024 and 2025, amassing just 26.1 total innings. He’s been awesome so far this year, with a 2.45 ERA, a 2.04 FIP, and, most impressively, 15 strikeouts and 0 walks in 11 innings. What a beautiful thing!

Friday and Sunday’s starters — RHPs Braydon Risley and Cody Delvecchio, respectively — had so-so outings but showed off their strikeout stuff. Risley, July’s 19th-round pick, struck out 7 batters in 4 innings, while giving up 3 hits (including 2 doubles), 1 walk, and 1 hit batter, with 2 earned runs. The just-turned 21-year old community college draftee has a 3.38 ERA and a 4.84 FIP through 4 games, with a delightful 20 strikeouts against 4 walks in 13.1 innings. Delvecchio, a 12th-round pick a year ago, K’d 6 batters in just 3.1 innings, but also allowed 6 hits (including a home run), 1 walk, and 3 strikeouts. The UCLA product’s numbers are similar to Risley’s: a 3.60 ERA, a 4.96 FIP, and 19 strikeouts against 4 walks in 15 innings.

But pour one out for the ERAs of RHP Melvin Pineda (5 baserunners and 4 earned runs in 0.2 innings on Friday; 7 baserunners and 7 earned runs in 1 inning on Sunday, raising his ERA to 15.12), LHP Ricardo Estrada (7 baserunners and 3 earned runs in 1.2 innings, raising his ERA to 11.70), RHP Alix Hernandez (6 baserunners and 3 earned runs in 1.2 innings, though his ERA is a still-delightful 2.70), RHP Jose T. Perez (6 baserunners and 5 earned runs in 1 inning, raising his ERA to 10.80), and RHP Fernando Vasquez (7 baserunners and 3 earned runs in 1.2 innings, raising his ERA to 11.74). Here’s to bounce-back games for all of them!

Home run tracker

4 — Dakota Jordan — [High-A]
4 — Lisbel Diaz x2 — [High-A]
3 — Bryce Eldridge — [AAA]
3 — Thomas Gavello — [AAA]
3 — Jonah Cox — [AA]
2 — Nate Furman — [AAA]
2 — Drew Cavanaugh — [AA]
2 — Scott Bandura — [AA]
2 — Ty Hanchey — [High-A]
1 — Grant McCray — [AAA]
1 — Buddy Kennedy — [AAA]

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, April 27, 2026, 6:40 p.m. ET

Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet-PIT

Pitching Matchup: Dustin May (3-2, 5.84 ERA) vs. Mason Montgomery (1-0, 3.97 ERA)

The Pittsburgh Pirates are at home hosting the St. Louis Cardinals this afternoon at beautiful PNC Park.

Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.

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Good evening, folks! There’s no game tonight as the Braves are getting a rare off day in the middle of a homestand. There’s still some stuff to talk about and this is your chance to chat about anything you want (that makes sense for a baseball blog site, haha).

What I’m watching tonight

Game of the night for me is Angels at White Sox and it’s solely because of Munetaka Murakami. I’ve been a fan of his since his time with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of NPB and it’s been a joy to see him make a splash in the big leagues with Chicago. Hopefully it’ll continue!

Let’s remember some guys

Brandon Gaudin mentioned this during Brian Snitker’s Hall of Fame ceremony and the Braves shared the stat out today. It’s absolutely mind-boggling but it also makes sense considering how long Snit has been with the franchise.

In honor of Brian Snitker’s longevity, I invite y’all to join me in Remembering Some Guys in the comments section. I’ll start: Willie Harris.

The floor is now yours!

The Mets are adding to the depth in the organization, claiming infielder Eric Wagaman off waivers from the Twins.

Wagaman has been optioned to Triple-A.

The 28-year-old was shipped off to Minnesota this offseason in a deal with the Marlins, but he was sent to the minors after failing to make the team out of camp.

His struggles continued to begin the year, hitting just .159 with six RBI over 18 Triple-A games, and he ended up being DFA’d to clear a roster spot late last week. 

Wagaman did enjoy some success in his lone consistent big-league opportunity, putting together 40 XBH’s in 140 games with Miami two years ago. 

He’s also a career .267 hitter with a .731 OPS against left-handed pitching. 

The majority of his experience is at first, but he’s also spent some time in the outfield. 

If Wagaman can find his groove down with Syracuse, perhaps he’ll work his way into the Mets' first base mix. 

Brett Baty and Mark Vientos have struggled while taking over the bulk of the playing time with Jorge Polanco on the IL. 

The Milwaukee Brewers have been a model of success for the past decade, and it’s quite clear the rest of the league has taken notice. From the Mets’ long-known courtship of David Stearns, to Craig Counsell leaving for the Cubs, to Walker McKinven going to the White Sox, and so many others, teams have been trying to hire away some of the top brains in the Brewers organization.

The Brewers have still retained some of their most crucial coaches and execs, most notably Matt Arnold, Pat Murphy, and Chris Hook. However, some teams are already getting an early jump on the next hiring cycle for coaches. The Red Sox fired a large chunk of their major league coaching staff recently, which has gotten the industry talking.

The Athletic’s Tyler Kepner put together a list of notable names to watch when this next hiring cycle gets into full gear. One current Brewers assistant coach was listed among the names, but it’s probably not who you would have expected.

First base coach Spencer Allen.

The 48-year-old Allen is in his first season as the Brewers’ first base coach. He has been in the organization since 2022, starting as a field coordinator and then most recently serving as the team’s Director of Player Development before being moved to the on-field staff for 2026.

Prior to joining the Brewers, Allen was the head coach for Northwestern’s baseball team.

The Brewers moved Allen to the on-field staff to replace Julio Borbón because they wanted more aggression on the basepaths again. It’s worked so far as the Brewers have the most stolen bases in baseball with 36.

Allen clearly is highly regarded around the league. He’s been a head coach before at the college level, has experience in player development on the pro side, and now has on-field MLB coaching experience. That checks just about every box you could look for in terms of experience, and he’s still fairly young.

Still, Allen probably would not have been most people’s first guess for a Brewers assistant coach to be on the radar for managerial jobs, since this is his first year with the on-field staff, and his previous work in the organization has been more behind the scenes in player development.

It wouldn’t surprise me if third base coach Matt Erickson, offense and strategy coordinator Jason Lane, or field coordinator Nestor Corredor also get some looks at managerial jobs in the future. They weren’t listed by The Athletic for this cycle, however.

Also on the list of candidates was McKinven, the former Brewers strategy coordinator who became the White Sox bench coach prior to last season.

The Guardians will now play the AL East version of themselves, the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Rays are 16-11, 10th in wRC+ at 103, 8th in baserunning runs above average at 1.7, sixth in starting pitcher ERA at 3.67 (3.88) and 26th in bullpen ERA at 5.27.

The Guardians are 15-14, 16th in wRC+ at 98, 29th in baserunning runs above average at -2.4, ninth in starting pitcher ERA at 3.78 (4.25 FIP) and 21st in bullpen ERA at 4.55.

As you can see, the key to beating the Rays SHOULD be to get their starting pitchers out of the game as quickly as possible and then beat up on their bullpen. Of course, having just seen the Guardians fail to beat up on a pretty bad Blue Jays’ pen, I am a bit skeptical at the moment. Hopefully, they surprise us.

Matchups:

Game One: Parker Messick, LHP 1.76 ERA (2.54 FIP) vs. Steven Matz, LHP 4.81 ERA (3.06 FIP)

Game Two: Tanner Bibee, RHP 4.45 ERA (4.64 FIP) vs. Nick Martinez, RHP 2.10 ERA (3.89 FIP)

Game Three: Gavin Williams, RHP 3.28 ERA (4.44 FIP) vs. Drew Rasmussen, RHP 2.45 ERA (4.10 FIP)

The Guardians’ offense is led by Daniel Schneemann at 167 wRC+, Angel Martinez 137 wRC+, Jose Ramirez 124 wRC+, Chase DeLauter 122 wRC+, Brayan Rocchio 122 wRC+, David Fry 110 wRC+, and Rhys Hoskins 103 wRC+. Is this the series that Kyle Manzardo, Bo Naylor, George Valera and/or Steven Kwan emerge from April hibernations? One can only hope.

The Rays’ offense is led by familiar frenemies Yandy Diaz 157 wRC+, Junior Caminero 131 wRC+, and Richie Palacios 126 wRC+. But, watch out also for Johnny DeLuca 120 wRC+, Jonathan Aranda 120 wRC+ and Jake Fraley 113 wRC+. This is a great series for those who enjoy franchise angst as we are likely to see big hits from Diaz and Caminero, but a Palacios key moment would be a cherry on top.

The Guardians are home. Time to find a way to win a series against a good team and get things back on track.

Glossary:

wRC+ – Weighted Runs Created Plus – A measure of determining a player’s run production value while controlling for park effects. 100 is league average.

Baserunning Runs Above Average – A metric including stolen base value, double-play avoidance, and taking extra bases to determine how many runs above average a team is on the basepaths

Defense – This stat gives you how many runs above average a team’s defenders save their team, adjusted for positional value (i.e. a catcher has far more defensive value for a team than a first baseman).

FIP – Fielding Independent Pitching. Essentially, ERA weighted by factors a pitcher can control (strikeouts, walks and homers) while eliminating as much as possible the effects of a good or bad defense.

SIERA – A metric to determine a pitcher’s true ERA based on strikeout rate, walk rate, and quality of batted-balls given up. This number is similar to ERA (3 and under is excellent) in determining player performance.

It felt like the San Diego Padres’ game all day, in large part, because it was.

Michael King twirled six innings of two-run ball, sporting eight strikeouts and only one walk. He exited the game with a 7-2 lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was over in a hurry.

The Padres’ bullpen (uncharacteristically) gave up the game in a loud way. David Morgan and Bradgley Rodriguez combined to give up six runs — including a Tim Tawa grand slam — in the bottom of the seventh before Ron Marinaccio and Wandy Peralta gave up four more runs in the eighth to give the D-backs a five-run cushion.

San Diego tried to come back multiple times but couldn’t answer once, ending in a disappointing loss after what had started off as a promising game. Three home runs, two from Manny Machado and the other from Luis Campusano, had buoyed the Friars for most of the game until the relief blowup.

On most days, if the Friars scored seven runs before turning it over to the bullpen, there’d be no worry of giving the game up. But yesterday that was not to be.

The hard truth for the Friar Faithful is there will be games like this. It’s not an indictment on the bullpen, it’s just a long, long, season and leads will be blown sometimes — no matter how good the club is.

That being said, San Diego will return home tonight hoping to best the similarly-hot Chicago Cubs. Their offense will be back in the pitcher-friendly confines of Petco Park so they’ll need to bet on a bounce back performance from the relief corps.

Taking the mound

Matthew Boyd (CHC) v. Randy Vásquez (SD)

That being said, Boyd (although feared in the past) has not been pitching like himself lately. He gave up six runs in his first start of the season before being placed on the injured list for two weeks. He’s been better since returning but still sports a 5.79 ERA on the year.

Boyd has also yet to go a full six innings in a game (5 2/3 at most). That’s good news for the Friars, who will hope to get to the Chicago bullpen quickly. They’ve been mostly solid but have struggled to a 3.95 ERA to start the year, and are without closer Daniel Palencia.

Vásquez, on the other hand, has been San Diego’s ace to open the season. He’s tallied a 1.88 ERA and 1.08 WHIP to go with 30 strikeouts across 28 2/3 innings. He’s been a beast on the mound for the Padres and has only given up more than one run once.

Helping Vásquez significantly is his history facing Chicago. The righty owns a .194 opponent batting average against the Cubs’ lineup. If he can limit them similarly (like he’s done to opponents all season), Vásquez will have no problem tonight.

Batter up!

After some early tweaking by manager Craig Stammen, the lineup has been more or less set lately. It seems likely that continues tonight against Boyd, looking something like this:

1. Ramón Laureano, LF
2. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
3. Jackson Merrill, CF
4. Manny Machado, 3B
5. Xander Bogaerts, SS
6. Gavin Sheets, DH
7. Nick Castellanos, 1B
8. Freddy Fermin, C
9. Sung-Mun Song, 2B

I’m hoping that Song makes his debut at the plate tonight. It’s possible that he debuts in a pinch-hit opportunity or DH-ing) as opposed to starting the game at second. But it seems possible he takes the start over Jake Cronenworth after Cronenworth’s slow offensive start to the season.

Tatis is still searching for his first homer of the year. It has been — by far — his longest drought without one. Hopefully he’ll hit one while being cheered on by the Friar Faithful tonight.

Relief corps

Like I said, the San Diego bullpen looked rough yesterday. But that’s hardly an indication of a downhill turn for the group. They’ve been dominant this year, ranking third in the majors with a 3.03 ERA.

The high-leverage guys (Jason Adam, Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller) have continued to be dominant — showing no signs of stopping. Miller took the franchise record for scoreless innings pitched this weekend and will look to extend it tonight if San Diego has a lead in the ninth.

Behind those three is Kyle Hart, who will surely be first out of the ‘pen if Vásquez doesn’t perform as well as he typically does. Hart can cover several innings well for the Friars with his history as a starter, though he hopefully won’t need to so long as Vásquez pitches a gem.

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Luis Castillo will be handed the ball as the Seattle Mariners head to the North Star State to take on the Minnesota Twins.

My Mariners vs. Twins predictions explain why I expect Castillo to play a big part in the M's claiming the win.

Read more for my MLB picks for Monday, April 27.

Who will win Mariners vs Twins today: Mariners moneyline (-135)

The Seattle Mariners have captured four straight victories heading into tonight’s contest. Luis Castillo gets the ball tonight, and he’s found his form lately. The righty is also very familiar with this Minnesota Twins lineup. 

Castillo has held their offense to a .195 average across 113 at-bats. Castillo has also allowed just three earned runs across his last two starts, and he’s only given up four earned runs on the road this year.

Seattle faces rookie Connor Prielipp this evening, who has held his own through three appearances. In his first start last week, Prielipp surrendered only two earned runs to the New York Mets.

However, he’s up against an M’s lineup which has scored 14 runs across its last two games.

I could see both guys throwing the ball well, but Castillo will be better, and Seattle will muster up enough offense to chase Prielipp relatively early. 

COVERS INTEL: Minnesota’s bullpen has a horrid 4.85 ERA, and the Twins have also lost five straight games.

Mariners vs Twins Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (+100)

While Seattle’s offense broke out a bit over the weekend, neither of these teams are scoring a ton of runs overall. The M’s are 22nd in runs scored, and they cashed the Under in two of the three games against the Cardinals. 

The Twins also took part in a low-scoring series with the Tampa Bay Rays, with the Under hitting in all three matchups as well. They also scored just five runs in that series, and Minny comes up against a very good arm in Castillo.

The Mariners’ bullpen is also elite, compiling a 3.18 ERA. Most of the offense tonight will come from Seattle, but don’t expect a ton. Pitching will be the storyline of the first game of this series. 

Mariners vs Twins odds

• Moneyline: Mariners -134 | Twins +114
• Run line: Mariners -1.5 | Twins +1.5
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5

Mariners vs Twins trend

The Mariners have hit the Under in 10 of their last 13 away games (+6.80 Units / 48% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Mariners vs. Twins.

How to watch Mariners vs Twins and game info

Mariners vs Twins latest injuries

Mariners vs Twins weather

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San Diego Padres Fernando Tatis Jr. is exiting the first month of the 2026 season with a disappointing .250/.333/.290 line, zero HR, 12 RBI, and 0.0 WAR. A very strange start for a player with a career WAR of 27.2. Nevertheless, not an area of concern, but certainly a step back in run production. 

Tatis Jr. is an elite defender with two Gold Gloves and two Platinum Gloves for his effort. However, for a player to be a Most Valuable Player candidate, the honor is closely tied to an outstanding offensive season. Unfortunately, Tatis Jr.’s output is nothing to write home about.

Tatis Jr. has become a more patient hitter

Granted, we are still in April, but the Friar Faithful want to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The star outfielder seems to be willing to take pitches and be more patient at the plate. Tatis Jr. did not overhaul his swing mechanics but has concentrated on putting more of the bat’s barrel on the ball.

The adjustment has drawn 13 walks in 27 games, which could challenge his career-high 89 BB last season. His walk rate is at 10% for the first month, as he is swinging less and is more willing to take a walk that puts a runner on base for the heart of the batting order.

The lone negative to his start, Tatis Jr. is still striking out at an alarming rate with runners in scoring position. Currently, his walk-to-strikeout rate is nearly 1-2.5, with Tatis Jr.’s strikeout rate at 24.6%. It has led to some missed scoring opportunities, as he has been having trouble putting the ball in the air.

To become a better run-producer, Tatis Jr. must drive the ball

Tatis Jr. has an 18.7% fly ball rate, which is the lowest of his seven-year major league career. Surprisingly, he is hitting a career-high 49.3% groundball rate in 100 at-bats. This combination likely explains his 27-game homerless streak.

Let’s not get too restless, as the newfound plate discipline will result in better quality contact at-bats. The three-time All-Star’s OPS (.623) is decent, but nowhere near his career average of .859. Tatis Jr.’s best mark was .975 in 2021. He wants to put himself into favorable count situations. But Tatis Jr. is failing to lift the ball for extra base hits. 

Despite the slow offensive production, Tatis Jr. is too talented a home run hitter to remain silent much longer. If he goes on a mini spree, his walk rate will likely decline.

He is scorching the ball when making solid contact, but it is right at the waiting glove of a fielder. Tatis Jr. is sporting a robust 66.7% hard-hit rate, well above the league average of 38.6%. He has an exit velocity of 93.3 mph this month. Tatis Jr. is trying to use the whole field and not pull every pitch. Still, you would expect better production than the results have shown.

His newfound plate discipline should provide more hittable situations. At some point, Tatis Jr. will do damage against opposing pitching.

While a clear feature of the 2026 Rockies is Warren Schaeffer changing up lineups depending on the opposing pitcher and analytics, one trend is emerging as a fairly regular trend: Edouard Julien in the leadoff spot.

Julien has hit in the No. 1 spot in 17 of the Rockies 29 games with all of them coming in the last 20. Jake McCarthy served as the leadoff hitter for the first five games of the season, Troy Johnston has done it three times, Tyler Freeman has done it twice and Jordan Beck and Mickey Moniak have each hit No. 1 once.

Overall, Julien is hitting .284/.369/.392 with 12 runs scored, 10 RBI, three doubles, one homer, 10 walks, 21 strikeouts and two stolen bases in 74 at-bats over 25 games. His .369 OBP is the second-best on the team for players with at least 40 at-bats.

Julien’s numbers are even better as the leadoff hitter. He’s hitting .317/.403/.429 with 20 hits, 10 RBI, one homer, two doubles, nine walks and 15 strikeouts in 63 at-bats. His production, along with patient at-bats, which are pretty rare for the Rockies, has made him the clear choice for the Rockies No. 1 hitter.

In spring training, Julien explained that he knows who he is as a hitter and takes pride in having long at-bats and not chasing.

In the first five games of the season, McCarthy had a .158 OBP as the leadoff hitter. The lack of production likely cost him the spot and relegated him to the bench. Johnston and Moniak have proved to be outstanding regardless of their place in the lineup. Unfortunately, Beck is off to a slow start in 2026 and is not getting as much time either.

Freeman was the Rockies most frequent leadoff hitter last year with 72 games in the role. Freeman is a solid choice for his low strikeout rate of 13.5% compared to the MLB average of 22.5%. A true utilityman, he’s hit in every spot in the lineup in his career and the No. 1 spot accounts for the most at the 10.3% of his games. He’s hit .260/.336/.332 with 47 runs, 30 RBI, 22 doubles, one homer, 16 stolen bases, 33 walks and 53 strikeouts in 377 at-bats over 101 games.

Freeman has struggled with some minor health issues to start the season. He started the season on the 10-day IL with lower back inflammation and tightness and was also pulled from the April 20 game with dizziness. Bloodwork came back fine, but playing in only 16 games this far, his vacancy may have opened up a spot for Julien.

Julien, who is in his fourth MLB season and first with the Rockies, is no stranger to the leadoff role. He played the majority of his time there in his first two of three seasons with Minnesota. Including his time with the Rockies, he’s now spent 43.8% of his career as a leadoff man. In his career, he’s hitting .214/.322/.356 with 72 runs scored, 41 RBI, 17 doubles, 15 homers, eight stolen bases and 72 walks with 165 strikeouts in the role in 449 at-bats in 128 games.

After a strong series against the Dodgers, Julien explained his philosophy of putting together quality at-bats.

At least for the foreseeable future, the leadoff spot appears to be Julien’s. With the Rockies off to a 13-16 start, and Colorado going 9-8 with Julien hitting first, it should be.

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