Category: Baseball

Kyle Tucker is off to a slow start in his first season with the Dodgers, hitting just .237/.352/.305 in the early going after walking twice in four plate appearances on Monday.

Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic earlier Monday talked to Tucker and hitting coach Aaron Bates about the outfielder’s early struggles:

“I think he’s probably trying a little bit hard,” hitting coach Aaron Bates told The Athletic. “He’s just getting settled in a little bit. Everyone’s always trying hard, so I don’t want to say it that way, but it’s more so (that he’s) trying to force it, maybe force hits.”

Roki Sasaki hasn’t been effective in his three starts so far this season, including Sunday’s loss, but the Dodgers plan to keep starting him in the major league rotation for the time being.

Dylan Hernández at the California Post surmised that Sasaki’s leash might only extend until Blake Snell can return from the injured list, which is expected at some point in late May.

Maddie Lee at the Los Angeles Times wrote about Sunday’s start, with Sasaki still trying to find a way to pitch deeper into games.

With the 79th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s Dodgers debut coming Wednesday, Anthony Castrovince at MLB.com wrote about Robinson’s activism.

Shortstop Emil Morales, who was named to several top-100 prospect lists before the season, is hitting .367/.444/.500 in the early going for Class-A Ontario, which earned high praise at Baseball Prospectus.

He’s starting the year back in California, likely to spare him the brutal Michigan spring, but Morales will soon be making his debut at Great Lakes, and I look forward to seeing him compete against the advanced pitching that the Midwest League will offer,“ Nathan Graham wrote of the 19-year-old. ”The Dodgers are loaded with high-upside positional prospects, but with Morales a potential power-hitting shortstop, he might have the highest ceiling of them all.

Brendan Tunink is hitting .257/.406/.786 with three home runs and three doubles in seven games for Ontario, which landed the 20-year-old outfielder on MLB Pipeline’s prospect team of the week.

The Atlanta Braves are officially doing the bullpen shuffle. It’s not nearly as glamorous as the Super Bowl Shuffle (kids, YouTube is free) but it’s the type of thing that has to happen in order to keep a season going sometimes. This time, the focus is on two pitchers: Rolddy Muñoz is going down and now Hayden Harris is coming up.

Muñoz’s return to the big leagues went about as well as his initial stint did, which is to say that it didn’t exactly go well. Muñoz got two innings under his belt and struck out three batters but gave up three runs in the process — his very first pitch got absolutely crushed right after the Braves had cut their deficit to two runs, which was the ultimate sign that the pitching staff probably didn’t have it on this particular night.

Now, it’ll be Hayden Harris’ turn to see if he can improve upon his initial stint in the big leagues. Harris made three appearances last season and while his ERA numbers looked perfectly fine during that stint, he had a wild xERA of 11.21 and a FIP of 5.39. He’ll be coming up with an ERA of 4.76 and a FIP of 4.63 through 5.2 innings of work at the Triple-A level so far. He had an instance where he walked four batters against the Round Rock Express back on April 1 and three of those runners scored. As long as he can stay out of trouble on the basepaths then things’ll be fine. Hopefully Harris will be able to make the best out of this opportunity going forward.

We also got word that Sean Murphy’s rehab assignment is officially official. He’s going to Rome, y’all. Grab your tickets if you’re up there.

How many pitches into the game last night did you start worrying about Garrett Crochet’s health? Such is life as a baseball fan in the 21st century. But, for now at least, Crochet says there’s nothing to worry about. He and the Sox brass all confirmed he felt healthy last night, and Crochet downplayed the dip in velocity. “In the second inning, I felt like I was throwing the ball better and the results were worse. I don’t really have one thing to point to. I just feel like they had a good approach. It was all pitch types that I felt like they were absolutely smothering — and laying off the sweeper. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)

Unfortunately, the worst start of Crochet’s career came at a bad time for the Red Sox. Not only had they won two series in a row, but the entire rotation was pretty solid in the third time through. Sox starters posted a 1.52 ERA over 29 2/3 innings and were finally looking like the elite rotation we thought we were getting heading into the season. (Thomas Harrigan, MLB.com)

Elite is probably too strong a word to use for Masataka Yoshida’s start, but he has been very good, particularly at controlling the strike zone, as he’s started the season with an .868 OPS. But due to the Red Sox poor roster construction, the Sox are struggling to find a spot for him in the lineup. “In these situations, you have to be realistic. He wants to play,” Alex Cora said. “He’s in a good spot, physically, mentally obviously, communication. We have to talk. And everybody knew coming into the situation that somebody was going to have to sit.” (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)

The awkward roster and poor start has some writers wondering whether the Red Sox goal in the offseason was to merely build a team that was a little better than last year, rather than a team that can chase a championship. (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)

But no one can complain much about the offseason addition of Willson Contreras. “He brings an intensity and some leadership, too,” Trevor Story said. “We love that, and that’s what we need. We do have a younger group. He has done a great job of blending and making it all work. He has been a great addition and he’s playing well.” (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)

Nevertheless, the Sox slow start already has some people thinking about a possible in-season trade for Isaac Parades, Brady House, or Royce Lewis to bolster the lineup. (Jim Bowden, The Athletic)

Happy Tuesday! The Mariners secured an emphatic four-game sweep of the Houston Astros behind another vintage George Kirby outing of 7 2/3 innings with two runs allowed and six strikeouts. Five of the Mariners’ six runs in their 6-2 win were brought home by Josh Naylor, who hit two home runs in back-to-back at-bats to break out of his hitting slump. Bryan Woo will take the mound in San Diego tonight against the Padres at 6:40 PM.

If you’re looking for a place to watch the last game of the Padres series on April 16th, join us at The Rebel in Wallingford for our first Lookout Landing watch party of the year! Don’t miss out on food and drink specials, exciting raffle prizes, and more.

In Mariners news…

• Michael Rosen at FanGraphs details the recent changes in Emerson Hancock’s fastball spin efficiency.
• Our very own John Trupin highlighted top prospect Kade Anderson’s hot start in Arkansas for Baseball Prospectus ($).
• The Mariners’ four-game sweep of the Houston Astros was an important series for many of the team’s key bats to re-emerge.
• RHP Bryce Miller is continuing to progress in recovery from oblique inflammation and could rejoin the team as early as this weekend to be evaluated by the Mariners’ athletic training staff.

Around the league…

• The Arizona Diamondbacks have moved starter Brandon Pfaadt to the bullpen in preparation for RHP Merrill Kelly’s return from the 15-day IL today.
• Baltimore Orioles first baseman Ryan Mountcastle is officially headed to the 60-day IL with a broken left foot.
• New York Mets RHP Nolan McLean has the highest curveball spin rate in the majors this year and is using his unique pitch mix to his advantage.
• The Houston Astros continue to be plagued with injuries as both infielder Jeremy Pena and RHP Tatsuya Imai were placed on the IL prior to yesterday’s game.
• The Minnesota Twins put up 11 runs in 1 2/3 innings against Boston Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet in their dominant 13-6 win yesterday.

Becca’s picks…

• The U.S Women’s National Soccer Team returns to Seattle tonight for the first time since 2017 to face Japan in an international friendly.
• Catch up on all of the Seattle Storm’s draft picks from the 2026 WNBA Draft last night.

Game Recaps

Marte, Arenado drill 2 HRs each at cozy Camden in opener against Orioles by Ian Nicholas Quillen [DBacks.com]

The Diamondbacks took the field at Oriole Park at Camden Yards for only the 13th time in club history on Monday night. Ketel Marte and Nolan Arenadoprobably wish they’d visit a lot more often.

Marte and Arenado each homered twice against the Orioles in the opener of the third and final series of Arizona’s nine-game East Coast swing, one that eventually ended in a 9-7 loss after the D-backs’ bullpen yielded a big lead.

The pair has now connected on 12 combined Camden Yards home runs, in only 27 career games between them.

Diamondbacks blow big lead in Baltimore, move one starter to bullpen by José M. Romero and Nick Piecoro [AZ Central]

In Monday’s game, the Diamondbacks built a six-run lead, only to lose it on an Orioles rally capped by one mighty swing from slugger Pete Alonso.

Another home run, a grand slam, was the big blow in the Orioles’ comeback, as Baltimore scored five runs in the sixth inning, two in the seventh and another in the eighth against the Diamondbacks’ bullpen to turn a 7-1 deficit into a frustrating Diamondbacks loss.

“We’ve got to be better, that’s really what it comes down to,” Lovullo said.

Diamondbacks News

Ketel Marte, the Diamondbacks lead-off home run leader, hits Baltimore’s famous Eutaw Street by Alex Weiner [Arizona Sports]

Ketel Marte will be etched into Oriole Park at Camden Yards lore by smashing a home run onto Baltimore’s famed Eutaw Street during the Diamondbacks’ game against the Orioles on Monday.

Marte crushed the first pitch of the game 443 feet to right field off Baltimore right-hander Dean Kremer, clearing the seats in right field for his 15th lead-off home run.

D-backs Make Tough Rotation Decision As Merrill Kelly Returns by Alex D’Agostino [SI]

The decision was a tough one, but the D-backs appear to have made the right one, barring ugly results. Pfaadt had been struggling with single-instance blowup innings in the middle of his start, furthering the trend of struggles as he faced opposing orders the second and third times through.

Soroka had been the more obvious candidate to leave for the bullpen when Kelly was activated, but he allowed just one run in his first 10 innings. He was hit for four runs in the first inning of his third start, but settled in to throw 5.2 scoreless frames with 10 punchouts.

Former Diamondback Blaze Alexander opens up on facing former club by Wendy Lopez [Burn City Sports]

Blaze Alexander, who spent parts of his development within the Diamondbacks system and at the major league level before his trade to Baltimore in the offseason, acknowledged the emotional weight of competing against teammates and coaches. The former D-Backs infielder expects a mix of familiarity and competitiveness facing those he once shared a locker room with.

“Those are my best friends,” he said pregame, according to Arizona Central Sports’ José M. Romero. “I came up with a lot of those guys, and even the coaching staff… It’s my guys. I’m always going to root for them except for today, but I’m a fan of all of them.”

Around the League

6 MVP awards, 4 HRs: Trout, Judge do battle in epic dinger duel by Rhett Bollinger [MLB]

The battle it turned out to be was a bit more fun for Yankees fans than Angels fans, as seven-time All-Star Aaron Judge and 11-time All-Star Mike Trout both homered twice but it was New York that came out with a thrilling 11-10 walk-off win on a wild pitch. Trent Grisham also went deep twice, including hitting a game-tying two-run blast in the ninth inning off closer Jordan Romano.

It was a wild one, as it was just the second time in MLB history where two three-time MVPs each hit multiple home runs in the same game. The first was way back on June 21, 1956, when Hall of Famers Stan Musial and Roy Campanella each hit two homers.

Orioles manager Craig Albernaz OK after line drive to face [ESPN]

Orioles manager Craig Albernaz was struck in the face by a line drive, then returned after receiving treatment to embrace the guy who sent the baseball whistling into the dugout.

That’s because Orioles second baseman Jeremiah Jackson did more than just injure his manager. He also hit a grand slam that helped Baltimore erase a six-run deficit in a 9-7 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.

Turns out, Albernaz wasn’t seriously hurt by the liner that struck him in the left cheek. But he was immediately taken into the tunnel and treated by the team’s medical staff.

“He’s doing good. Just as a precaution, he’s going to get it scanned,” said bench coach Donnie Ecker, who pinch hit for Albernaz at the postgame news conference.

Mason Miller Is Unbelievable by Ben Clemens [FanGraphs]

LMy puny mortal brain is having trouble making sense of the numbers coming out of San Diego right now. It’s an uncanny valley thing. Mason Miller’s statistics just don’t quite seem like they’re numbers that you can put up in the majors. Oh, they’re all in the right columns. They’re not impossible or anything. It’s just that no one else has numbers that look quite like this, and even more so than that, if you think about what they all mean together, it doesn’t seem like the performance they describe can possibly be real.

Let’s start with the most striking statistic: 19 strikeouts in 24 batters faced. That 79.2% strikeout rate is obviously technically feasible, but I keep saying it in my head and it keeps not making sense. I look at strikeout rates a lot, particularly early in the season. But even for very good pitchers, they tend to top out around 40%, maybe 50% if they’re performing especially well. I can fit those numbers into my head. That means that about half the batters they face are going to strike out – easy enough. Face four batters in an inning? Two punchouts.

Poll: Which Team Has Been Most Impacted By Injuries This Year byNick Deeds [MLB Trade Rumors]

Every year, teams that are widely expected to succeed at the outset of the season stumble due to injury woes. Teams that look strong on paper can often perform much less impressively if even one or two key players are removed from the mix, and even the very best teams can look vulnerable with a long enough string of tough-luck injuries. 2026 has been no exception to this so far, with several teams facing substantially tougher roads in the months ahead thanks to an early injury or three putting them on the back foot. Which team has it worst when it comes to the injury bug?

{Ed. Note: The options in the poll are the Braves, Orioles, Cubs, Astros, Blue Jays, Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Brewers, Reds}

This Week in the Minors is our weekly look at notable performances from all over the system, from big-name prospects and less-heralded guys alike. The mission is to answer this simple question: “Who had a good week?”

Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers (7-7, 3.5 games back)

The Storm Chasers took 3 of 5 from the Iowa Cubs, with the Sunday finale being rained out. In the first game of the series, Ryan Bergert went 2.1 innings, giving up just a solo homer before exiting the game with an injury. He was placed on the injured list, with right elbow discomfort, the Royals #10 prospect, Ben Kudrna is on the AAA IL with the same injury. Right-handed pitcher Ben Sears got called up from AA to replace Bergert.

John Rave and Kameron Misner each had a good week, both mashing a couple of homers. Eric Cerantola, who was the spotlight in last week’s report, was great again. He threw two innings, in game one of a Friday doubleheader, striking out five batters. Cerantola is on the 40-man roster, and with some guys in the Royals bullpen struggling currently, looking at you Alex Lange and John Schreiber, he could get the call to help out.

Stephen Kolek was supposed to make his first rehab start on Sunday, so that was unfortunately wiped away due to the rain out. I assume that he’ll now start on Tuesday against the Indianapolis Indians at Werner Park. The Storm Chasers play them Tuesday through Sunday in Omaha.

Northwest Arkansas Naturals (6-3, 1 game back)

The Naturals took 4 of 6 from the Amarillo Sod Poodles this past week. Drew Beam started the first game of the series, after getting promoted from Quad Cities, where I mentioned he was someone to keep an eye on. He went 5 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 run, and walking 1 while striking out 2. He also started the last game of the series, and the Sod Poodles saw him better this time around. Beam only went 3.1 innings, allowing 3 hits, 4 runs, walking 3 and striking out 2. He allowed 3 homers in the game as well.

Henry Williams went 5.2 innings, allowing 7 hits, 1 run and striking out 4 in a Naturals 4-1 victory. At the plate, outfielder Carson Roccaforte had a good series. The 24-year-old was 8-for-22 with three doubles, three homers, while walking six times and striking out eight times.

Dustin Dickerson hit a walk off single as well. The Naturals hit the road and will take on the Corpus Christi Hooks this week. The series runs Tuesday through Sunday.

Quad Cities River Bandits (2-4, 2 games back)

After having their whole opening weekend rained out, the River Bandits lost 4 of 6 at home to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. 19-year-old lefty David Shields struggled in both his starts. The Royals second-round pick in 2024 gave up 10 hits and 6 runs in the 6 innings he pitched. He did strike out seven batters though. In general, it was a tough series for the pitching staff overall.

At the plate, catcher Blake Mitchell was 4-for-19 with a pair of homers. Other fellow catcher, Ramon Ramirez went 5-for-19 with a homer. Ramirez did get the walk-off single to win the final game of the series as well. But overall, it was a tough series at the plate as well for the River Bandit hitters.

Quad Cities hits the road for a Tuesday-Sunday sereis against the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

Columbia Fireflies (5-4, 2 games back)

The Columbia Fireflies took 4 of 6 from the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at home this past week. 18-year-old Kendry Chourio has been a hot prospect name, in his start this week, he went 4.2 perfect innings, striking out six batters. A game the Fireflies threw a combined one-hitter, winning 1-0. Josh Hammond went 4-for-4 in Friday’s contest, with two doubles, a triple and a home run.

Outfielder Roni Cabrera also smashed a grand slam during the series. Sean Gamble was 3-19 in the series against the Pelicans. The Royals first overall pick last draft is off to a rough start in A ball.

The Fireflies are back in action, traveling to take on the Charleston RiverDogs, Tuesday through Sunday.

A busy day in the world of the Atlanta Braves culminated with the team getting rocked on the field Monday night by the Miami Marlins. Despite the Marlins having scored three runs total across the entire three-game series in Detroit, they eclipsed that mark in just five innings in Atlanta.

The offense did show signs of life as they plated another four runs but folks, it’s very difficult to win any type of ballgame when you give up ten runs. Eury Pérez also should probably feel fortunate that he got out of there with just three runs allowed as the Braves did have their chances to open it up against him. Instead, Grant Holmes and the rest of Atlanta’s pitching staff took the brunt of the punishment in this contest and the Braves ended up being doomed to defeat in this one and their series-winning streak is now in jeopardy.

Braves News

Dylan Dodd is now with the Gwinnett Stripers and Rolddy Muñoz took his place as a result. We were hoping that things would be better for Muñoz this go-around. The first pitch he threw got hit out. Blah.

Sean Murphy was going to do his rehab stint in Gwinnett. Plans changed due to personal circumstances on his part and now he’ll be starting his rehab assignment Tuesday night with the Rome Emperors.

Michael Harris II returned to the lineup following the birth of Michael Harris III. As a result, Luke Williams was designated for assignment. We’ll see if he ends up sticking around with the Braves organization.

Grant McAuley gave us all an inside look into the design process of the new City Connect uniforms. He spoke with Braves Creative Director Insung Kim and got all the details behind the design.

Following his actions last week during the donnybrook between the Braves and the Angels, manager Walt Weiss has developed a tough reputation. Bob Nightengale of USA Today went into detail about how unsurprising that was for the people who are around him every day.

MLB News

Aaron Judge and Mike Trout had a kaiju battle in the Bronx on Monday night. The Yankees may have won 11-10 but folks, is Trout finally back?

Elsewhere in the AL East, the Orioles made a furious comeback from down six runs to stun the Diamondbacks in dramatic fashion.

The Guardians bounced back in a win over the Cardinals but folks, Jordan Walker is on a tear.

Will Leitch of MLB.com ran down a list of candidates who could potentially be in line to win their first career MVP this season. Do you agree with what you see on this list?

From The Feed

Walt Weiss is a very, very popular guy in the Braves’ clubhouse right now.

Miracle of all miracles, the 37-year-old Chris Sale just keeps getting it done.

Are we looking at the best Braves bench for a considerable amount of time? People are asking!

The DH spot is looking pretty nice as well.

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There’s a fascinating starting pitching matchup in Chavez Ravine on Tuesday as Nolan McLean and the New York Mets face Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

See why I’m backing the underdog and the Under with my Mets vs. Dodgers predictions and MLB picks for Tuesday, April 14.

Who will win Mets vs Dodgers today: Mets (+178)

A team with Nolan McLean as their starting pitcher shouldn’t be priced at +186. 

The 24-year-old has a 2.23 ERA across 11 starts in the Big Leagues and has flashed elite stuff this season, ranking above the 90th percentile in xERA, xBA, and average exit velocity. 

The New York Mets are off to a disappointing start at the dish, but there’s still plenty of talent up and down the lineup. 

They could reasonably plate several runs against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who has yet to ramp up to “elite mode” with a pedestrian 3.62 xERA and 20.9% K rate in three starts.

COVERS INTEL: The Mets have below-average surface-level numbers at the plate (.230 AVG, .341 SLG), but underlying metrics indicate that’s somewhat due to bad luck. Their xBA is 16 points higher (.246), and their xSLG is 51 points higher, so better days are ahead.

Mets vs Dodgers Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (-107)

The league experienced a rash of high-scoring games on Monday, when nine of the 10 games went Over the total. The lone Under? The series opener between the Mets and Dodgers, a 4-0 victory for L.A. 

There was favorable hitting weather in just about every other game, but L.A. was an exception then, and it is again on Tuesday with temps in the high 50s to low 60s. 

In a game with two tremendous starting pitchers, I’d rather have the Under. Both bullpens have SIERAs under 3.80 and are well rested after combining for just four innings in the opener.

Mets vs Dodgers odds

• Moneyline: Mets XX | Dodgers XX
• Run line: Mets XX | Dodgers XX
• Over/Under: Over XXX | Under XXX

Mets vs Dodgers trend

The Mets have cashed the moneyline in three of their last five road games for a 15% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Mets vs. Dodgers.

How to watch Mets vs Dodgers and game info

Mets vs Dodgers latest injuries

Mets vs Dodgers weather

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The San Diego Padres bullpen was expected to be the strength of the team coming into the 2026 season, the first season under new manager and former Padres reliever Craig Stammen. The San Diego bullpen has been good, but it has not been the shutdown game-determining juggernaut the Friar Faithful expected. In fact, one of those power arms at the back of the ‘pen, Jeremiah Estrada, landed on the IL following a slow start to the year. Estrada had some difficult outings where he did not look like the same dominant arm that struck out 13 batters in a row, but the greater concern was the drop in his velocity. Another electric arm in the San Diego bullpen, Adrian Morejon, has also struggled to start the season. Stammen said it himself in a recent postgame press conference, Morejon is not getting hit hard, but broken bat singles and flares to the outfield somehow keep finding grass.

The performances of Estrada and Morejon have really been the only negatives from the bullpen so far. Yuki Matsui has yet to return to the big-league roster, but Jason Adam was reinstated last week and looks like he never suffered a season-ending injury in 2025. David Morgan, Kyle Hart, Wandy Peralta, Ron Marinaccio and Bradgley Rodriguez have all had moments this season where fans could see what the potential the prognosticators saw before the season began when they were praising the Padres’ bullpen.

Of course, the crown jewel of the San Diego bullpen to this point in the season is closer Mason Miller. He has been talked about as the single most dominant player at any position in the MLB. That is high praise for one of the biggest points of contention from the 2025 season. Was it a mistake by general manager A.J. Preller to trade top-prospect Leodalis DeVries for Miller and JP Sears? Even without Sears, those in favor of the trade could claim a victory.

One thing is for sure, as the season progresses and players like Estrada, Morejon and eventually Matsui return to the bullpen, decisions for Stammen and Preller will become increasingly difficult. The benefit of those decisions should be the elite group that was so highly touted in the offseason.

Padres News:

• Fernando Tatis Jr. played back-to-back games at second base to allow Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth to get days off. The result was an improved performance at the plate and a double play throw that intended to put a hole in the glove of first baseman Gavin Sheets. No matter the reason for the (temporary) move the Platinum Glove winning right fielder looked happy to be back on the dirt.

• Tatis Jr. may not get many more chances to play second base if Sung-Mun Song continues his success in his rehab appearances with Triple-A El Paso. The infielder was 2-for-5 in the most recent action for the Chihuahuas.

Baseball News:

• The New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels faced off against each other on Monday, but the real story was Aaron Judge versus Mike Trout. With the two combining for four home runs, they did not disappoint.

• Jordan Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals cannot stop hitting home runs – and the Cardinals do not want him to.

• Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes finally got some run support in one of his outings as the Pirates scored 10 runs in a single frame against the Washington Nationals.

• Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs against his former club and helped the Philadelphia Phillies start their series against the Chicago Cubs with a win.

• Boston Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet got beat up by the Minnesota Twins and allowed 11 runs in 1.2 innings. Byron Buxton became the all-time home runs leader at Target Field as a result.

• Nolan Arenado and Ketel Marte each hit two home runs to help the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Baltimore Orioles, but it was Pete Alonso who helped Baltimore walk away with a win.

• Josh Naylor, who signed a free-agent deal with the Seattle Mariners in the offseason, had a breakout game at the plate with two home runs.

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A double-dose of Los Angeles vs. New York plays highlight our MLB best bets for Tuesday's slate, dipping into both the AL and NL versions of those matchups.

In addition to those MLB picks, we also have more best bets from the Covers staff — with all prices courtesy of Polymarket, which allows baseball fans all across the country to participate in the MLB action.

MLB expert picks for today

Pick	Odds
Josh Inglis: LAA ML	+163
Jon Metler: NYM ML	+186

Prices courtesy of Polymarket.

Josh Inglis' expert pick: Angels moneyline

Price: 63¢ (+163) at Polymarket

When I’m backing a big dog, I’ll happily take an offense like the Los Angeles Angels, which has been a Top-10 unit over the last week and is coming off a 10-run outing yesterday. They got to the Yankees bullpen early, tagging it for six runs and two home runs, which is key to their chances again today. Ryan Weathers is coming off a career-high 101 pitches in his last start, after relatively light workloads throughout his six MLB seasons, which adds some uncertainty to his leash. THE BAT projects a fair price closer to +125 for the Halos, making +163 a strong value spot.

Jon Metler's expert pick: Mets moneyline

Price: 35¢ (+186) at Polymarket

Nolan McLean vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto at Dodger Stadium — this is the game of the night, and I’m backing the Mets in a matchup that could easily be an NLCS preview. The Mets are trading at 35% on Polymarket, but I make them closer to 44%, which is why I’m hitting the button on this price. The Dodgers lineup — featuring LHBs Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Kyle Tucker, and Max Muncy — typically benefits from facing right-handed pitching... unless it’s a high-end arm. McLean fits that description, with elite stuff and a high spin rate. He can bury back-foot sliders to left-handed power bats and mix in his curveball to keep them off balance, forcing weaker contact and limiting their power.

More MLB best bets for today

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The Detroit Tigers enjoyed some home cooking this weekend, sweeping the Miami Marlins in three games to snap a five-game winning streak. Now, they open up the second half of the homestand with their American League Central rivals, the Kansas City Royals, coming into town.

The Royals are currently tied with the Tigers in the middle of the ALC pack, while the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians sit atop the division with 10-7 records. The Chicago White Sox take up the rear with a 6-10 mark heading into the series.

To kick things off, Detroit has lefty-hander Framber Valdez taking the mound on Tuesday night, while fellow southpaw Cole Ragans toes the rubber for the visitors. Here’s a quick look at how they match up.

Detroit Tigers (7-9) vs. Kansas City Royals (7-9)

Time (ET): 6:40 p.m. ET
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site:Royals Review
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 17: LHP Framber Valdez (1-1, 4.76 ERA) vs. LHP Cole Ragans (0-3, 5.91 ERA)

VALDEZ

RAGANS

In many ways, the main goal of the Orioles’ 2026 season was not to repeat the 2025 season. Through the first 16 games of the season, the O’s have certainly been more competitive than they were to begin last season. However, one unfortunate aspect of 2025 that has followed the Orioles into 2026 is the mountain of injuries.

The Orioles currently have a major-league-leading 13 players on the IL. After a weekend that saw Adley Rutschman land on the 10-day IL with an ankle injury and Ryan Mountcastle head to the 60-day IL with a broken foot, the offense is now especially reeling.

With the injuries piled on top of the early-season struggles of Pete Alonso and Samuel Basallo, the offense has been in desperate need of unexpected heroes. That’s where Taylor Ward and Leody Taveras come in.

The fact that Ward is a big-time contributor is not exactly a surprise. Behind Alonso, Ward was seen as the second biggest offseason addition for the Orioles’ offense. However, when the O’s acquired the 32-year-old outfielder from the Angels, he was expected to be a power-first bat in the mold of Alonso. Instead, he’s turned into an on-base machine who’s wearing out the power alleys.

After last night’s matchup with the Diamondbacks, Ward is 11th in MLB with a .339 average, tied for 7th with 21 total hits and leads MLB with 10 doubles. After hitting a career-high 32 home runs last year, he’s yet to launch his first homer in black and orange. However, he’s more than made up for his lack of over the fence with a more disciplined approach at the plate and a willingness to spray the ball to all fields.

Unlike Alonso, Basallo and Gunnar Henderson, Ward is not blessed with elite bat speed and the ability to consistently generate high exit velocity. Even in hitting 32 long balls last year, his average exit velocity and hard-hit rate were right around league average, while his bat speed only ranked in the 15th percentile. What’s been elite throughout 2025 and 2026 is Ward’s ability to square up pitches and his unwillingness to chase pitches outside of the zone.

What’s helped transform Ward into a different offensive force is a focus on swinging for line drives instead of deep fly balls. The outfielder’s career line-drive percentage is around 26%; this year, that number has jumped up to 39.1%, the 5th-best mark in all of baseball. We’ve also seen his opposite-field hit percentage jump from 27.1% last year to a career-best 32.6% so far this year. Ward’s willingness to hit the ball to where he’s being pitched has led to a 47.8% Launch-Angle Sweet Spot rate, putting him in the 96th percentile this season.

Ward’s early-season breakout is reminiscent of the hot start we saw from former Oriole Ryan O’Hearn to begin last year. Through 16 games, Ward is currently slashing .333/.427/.492. Through 16 games last year, Turn and Burn was .296/.377/.519—which turned into a first-half OPS of .834 and an All-Star berth.

Coming into last season, most would’ve ranked O’Hearn behind the likes of Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman and Jordan Westburg in terms of expected offensive impact. Similarly, Ward was probably seen as the fourth most important Baltimore bat heading into this season, behind Henderson, Alonso and a healthy Rutschman. Instead, the newly acquired outfielder has catapulted himself to the top of the pecking order as the O’s most productive hitter so far.

However, the mountain of injuries has meant that Baltimore once again needed someone previously seen as a depth piece to rise to the occasion. Last year, that came in the form of Ramón Laureano; this year, we’re seeing that same level of contribution from Leody Taveras.

Taveras came to the Orioles this past offseason out of necessity. With Colton Cowser set to be the Opening Day CF, and no other natural CF on the roster, the front office brought in Taveras to provide a defensive insurance policy in the outfield. However, Cowser’s continued struggles against off-speed pitches and the recent injury to Tyler O’Neill have thrust the 27-year-old Dominican into more of an everyday role.

To say the former Texas Ranger has taken that opportunity and run with it would be an understatement. In 12 games this season, Taveras is 9-for-25 with three doubles, four runs scored and five walks. If he had enough at-bats to qualify, his .467 OBP would lead the Orioles and place fourth in all of baseball. In the last three games, we’ve seen manager Craig Albernaz stick Taveras in the sixth spot in the order, allowing him to serve as a secondary table setter for the bottom of the lineup.

Should Taveras continue to hit well, the uncertain nature of the Orioles outfield means he’ll have plenty of opportunities to lock down the CF role. Cowser’s inability to hit changeups may ultimately force him down the pecking order as the season goes on, and players get healthy (he was hitting .167 on off-speed pitches with a 46.4% whiff rate heading into Monday).

If Cowser can’t iron out the holes in his game (or if O’Neill continues to struggle to stay healthy), it would allow Taveras to make a Laureano-like jump from fourth outfielder to invaluable starter. And while Taveras and Laureano do not offer the same offensive profiles—with the former a switch-hitting line-drive machine and the latter a right-hander power bat—they both provide(d) a similar ability to outshine expectations and strengthen a shaky Orioles outfield.

Even with the injuries and slow starts, there’s still plenty of hope that this collection of Baltimore bats can produce an upper-echelon offense. And while Gunnar has been awesome so far, and the Polar Bear is getting back to his normal ways, the plus contributions from Ward and Taveras are a big part of why the O’s sit atop the AL East after the first 10% of the season.

For the most part, the Phillies bullpen has been a strength so far this season. There’s been some bad luck involved, but overall, the unit looks strong. One major exception however is José Alvarado. 

Following Sunday’s ineffective performance, Alvarado has now allowed 8 runs, 7 earned, in 5 innings pitched on 9 hits with 7 strikeouts to 3 walks. He too has run into some bad luck, as he’s sporting a whopping .563 BABIP, an impressive level of early batted ball misfortune. But, that doesn’t entirely erase the fact that Alvarado just hasn’t looked good so far. 

Alvarado’s velocity has been good, clocking in right around his career average at an average of 98 MPH. But he’s struggled to throw strikes, as only 40% of his pitches have been inside the zone. That is a far drop off from his abbreviated 2025 (50.3%) or even his 2024 (47.6%). In fact, that 40% zone rate is well below Alvarado’s already low 47.5% rate for his career. Of course, he’s only made eight appearances on the young 2026 season, but it is something to monitor. 

Curiously, despite the lack of pitches in the zone, Alvarado is actually getting a healthy dose of swings and misses. His 30.2% whiff rate is in line with his career average of 31.3% and is way up from 2025 where his swing and miss rate was a career low 24.3%. 

It is only eight appearances, so the book is far from written on Alvarado’s 2026, but the poor performance is a trend that dates back to his return from suspension last season. In 16 total appearances since being reinstated on August 19th, Alvarado has a 9.82 ERA in 11 innings pitched with 14 strikeouts to 6 walks. Opponents are hitting .340 with a .968 OPS against him over that span. The numbers are even worse in the eight appearances after Alvarado returned from the injured list on September 29th, with a 12.60 ERA and an opposing hitters batting line of .391/.481/.391

It’s still early in 2026, so there’s plenty of time for Alvarado to turn it around. But this is a trend of subpar performance that dates back to last season. The Phillies have two other effective lefties in the bullpen with Tanner Banks and the surprising Tim Mayza, but neither of them posses the raw stuff and strikeout ability that Alvarado has. The team needs him to be able to be an effective setup man and to be the top lefty reliever behind righties Jhoan Duran and Brad Keller. So, do the Phillies have a José Alvarado problem?