Category: Baseball

The Cubs injury-laden pitching staff has forced a number of players into roles they likely weren’t anticipating at the start of the season. After all, how many of us thought the Cubs would have a 27-14 record along with seven different pitchers having saves as they head into a clash of the National League titans in Atlanta? But the player whose role may impact the team’s overall success the most might be Ben Brown, who has bounced between the starting rotation, bullpen and Iowa over the past couple of years as he tried to find the right fit.

This time might actually be different. In a February piece from The Athletic, Brown was quoted: “I developed a sinker and changeup this offseason.” Those pitches might end up being more consequential than anyone imagined at the time. After all, Brown’s problem has never been stuff, it was always sequencing, predictability and the ability to locate his pitches.

Last season Brown struggled to the tune of 5.92 ERA with a 1.44 WHIP across 106.1 innings while splitting time between the rotation and bullpen. The culprit was a two-pitch mix that smart hitters learned to sit on. As Chi City Sports noted in March, “opposing hitters teed off on his four-seamer” batting .315 with a .526 slugging percentage while producing just a 14.8 percent whiff rate. Hitters knew what was coming and they mashed it. Enter, stage right, a sinker:

That sinker made Brown a much more dangerous pitcher. He’s throwing it 42 percent of the time to right-handed hitters, and the results have been excellent. Batters are hitting and slugging just .217 off the sinker. It has also induced an 82.9 mph average exit velocity.

Brown is also throwing a changeup 5.6 percent of the time, almost exclusively to southpaws. He’s thrown 25 changeups so far this season and it’s a weapon. Brown’s changeup sits at 90.4 miles per hour and has a 40 percent whiff rate so far this season.

All of it adds up to a much more dangerous version of Ben Brown than the one who started 15 games last season. So when Matthew Boyd needed meniscus surgery, Brown was ready to rejoin the rotation. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Brown was already working multiple innings in anticipation of potentially needing to start during the season:

Brown said he didn’t think it would take long for him to be stretched out as a starter. Counsell said he has made a point of giving Brown multiple innings. He went 3„ innings in each of his first two appearances this season, and has gone at least two innings in eight of his last 10 appearances. He has thrown a team-high 25% innings out of the pen, posting a 2.10 ERA while striking out 10 and walking eight. Four of those walks came in his first three appearances.

The result was four no-hit innings against the Rangers. As Bleacher Nation noted: “Brown tossed four no-hit innings, struck out three, induced six ground ball outs, and had only one baserunner to deal with as a result of his one walk. He needed just 46 pitches to get through the four innings and threw nine sinkers and four changeups, getting 40 and 100-percent whiff rates on the two pitches, respectively.“ It’s a minuscule, but promising, sample.

Brown’s next test will be one of the league’s best offenses in Atlanta. He’s slated to toe the rubber for the Cubs opposite Chris Sale in Atlanta on Thursday.

It was looking bleak for the San Diego Padres for a while there.

Sunday’s series finale began as a pitcher’s duel between Walker Buehler and St. Louis Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy. The latter managed to keep the Friars scoreless while Buehler pitched deeper but surrendered a two-run shot to Jordan Walker.

That seemed like it would be all the Red Birds would need as the Padres failed to capitalize on any of their opportunities. With the Cardinals elite closer, Riley O’Brien, coming in to finish out the bottom of the ninth. (O’Brien would probably be considered the best closer in MLB if not for a guy named Mason Miller.)

Going into that game, the closer held the longest active streak in innings pitched without surrendering a home run (60 1/3). That all came to an end on a two-out, full-count splitter that Nick Castellanos sent into the left field bleachers to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. The Friars finished it off in extra innings with a sacrifice fly from Manny Machado.

Sunday’s win helped salvage a split after San Diego dropped the first two games to the Cards. It gives them a bit of momentum heading into their series against the Milwaukee Brewers today.

Taking the mound

Brandon Sproat (MIL) v. Matt Waldron (SD)

Sproat came over from the New York Mets in the trade that sent starter Freddy Peralta to the club. He’s been thrust into a role that he likely wasn’t ready for yet. He’s struggled to a 5.87 ERA across seven appearances.

Still, Sproat is a young pitcher with an incredibly high ceiling. His last start against the Arizona Diamondbacks was impressive, with the righty going four scoreless innings while allowing only one hit. If he can repeat that performance, Sproat will go a long way toward redeeming his 2026 season.

Waldron has had similar issues, though he is on the other end of his career. He’s been a kind of veteran minor leaguer, spending seven seasons between the majors and minors. This may be his last start for the time being as Lucas Giolito has to be called up by May 16.

The knuckleballer had a difficult time his first two outings but has markedly improved in his most recent ones. He pitched five innings and surrendered three runs to the Chicago Cubs before following it up with five more innings of one-run ball against the San Francisco Giants. If Waldron can keep that pace, he could earn a roster spot if Buehler stumbles.

In his gem against the Giants, reliever Bradley Rodriguez pitched the first inning, serving as an opener before Waldron pitched in bulk relief. That formula worked so well that the Padres are going to go with it again today. It should hopefully give Waldron the ability to work deeper into the game.

Batter up!

Unfortunately, San Diego doesn’t have any experience against the rookie Sproat. That will give the Milwaukee starter somewhat of an advantage. But that has been the case for most of the year and it hasn’t helped Sproat’s run prevention all that much, so the Padres should be able to tag a few runs off of the right-hander.

Manager Craig Stammen seems likely to use a fairly standard lineup, with Jackson Merrill remaining in the leadoff spot. Xander Bogaerts has been on a tear lately and could bat higher as well.

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

With the off day yesterday, the starters will be out in full force. Andujar has seemed to serve as the regular DH lately, though his bat has cooled off recently.

Relief corps

With the Friars down two runs for most of the game, the club utilized most of its lower-leverage options. Ron Marinaccio covered two splendid innings before Bradgley Rodriguez pitched a scoreless ninth. Jeremiah Estrada came in to pitch the 10th and got two outs before Stammen turned to Adrian Morejon for the final out. That completed a scoreless outing from the ‘pen.

With the off day on Monday, San Diego will have all of their relievers available. But those who will be freshest are Jason Adam, Yuki Matsui, Adrian Morejon, Wandy Peralta and closer Mason Miller. Any of them could be turned to, though Matsui or Peralta will likely be out first if Waldron struggles early.

Anthony Volpe is back in the big leagues.

The Yankees are calling up the 25-year-old shortstop, a move the club made official on Tuesday afternoon. 

After undergoing offseason shoulder surgery, Volpe began his 2026 campaign on a rehab assignment. But when that rehab assignment came to an end, he was optioned to Triple-A instead of being called up to join the big league club. 

But with Jose Caballero injuring his right middle finger on Sunday against Milwaukee, the Yanks needed a shortstop, and Volpe was the obvious answer.

Caballero, who returned to New York after Monday's game to visit team doctors, has landed on the IL with a right middle finger fracture. 

Volpe was hitting .221 in 18 games in the minors this season (rehab and non-rehab games), hitting one home run with eight RBI and 11 runs scored. 

He hit .212 in 153 regular season games with the Yankees last season, and had his struggles in the field. A Gold Glove winner as a rookie, Volpe committed 19 errors and had a career-low .963 fielding percentage last season.

“We want him to have the best chance to be successful, and we have to acknowledge, first how well (Jose Caballero) has played,” manager Aaron Boone said when Volpe was originally sent down. “He’s been a key factor in us getting off to a really good start this year on both sides of the ball, on the basepaths. So, it’s really as simple as that. It doesn’t change how we feel about Anthony or the kind of player we think he is and will be. But in this moment of time, we felt like this was absolutely the right thing to do, and a lot of that has to do with…. We have a lot of really good players right now competing for real roles and real spots. I think that competition ultimately is going to be a great thing for us."

The Mets made the promotion of prospect A.J. Ewing official on Tuesday afternoon. In a corresponding move, Andy Ibáñez was designated for assignment.

Ewing, who was ranked No. 6 on Amazin’ Avenue’s preseason prospect list and is currently ranked No. 2 on MLB Pipeline’s list of top Mets prospects, put up an .827 OPS in 12 games after being promoted to Triple-A Syracuse on April 27. The 21-year-old was selected by the Mets in the fourth round of the 2023 Draft (with a pick received as compensation for Jacob deGrom’s departure in free agency) and has thrived at every stage of the Minor Leagues.

In his MLB debut against Jack Flaherty and the Tigers on Tuesday night, Ewing will play center field and bat eighth. He will also wear jersey No. 9, making him the first Met not named Brandon Nimmo to sport that number since Kirk Nieuwenhuis in 2015. Ewing’s presence isn’t the only shakeup in the lineup, as Carson Benge will bat leadoff for the first time since April 19 while Juan Soto bats third for the first time this season.

After being claimed off waivers on April 30, Ibáñez went 0-for-6 with a pair of sacrifice flies in just three games with the Mets. Starting at third base in Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Diamondbacks, he made a pair of costly throwing errors which Carlos Mendoza didn’t mince words about after the game.

With his 4th inning strikeout of Hunter Feduccia last night, Kevin Gausman became the 91st pitcher in major league history to record 2,000 strikeouts (and finished the night in 90th place given that Andy Benes had 2,000 on the nose). Gausman is just the 10th among those 91 to have played for the Blue Jays (of 539 players who have taken the mound for the Jays).

Even in that rarified air however, Gausman holds a particular distinction: he’s the only pitcher to record his 2000th strikeout for the Blue Jays. To get a better sense of these pitchers and their impact for the Blue Jays franchise, let’s split out their strikeouts for the Jays and sort by that:

It turns out there’s a few distinct categories here. The first is future Hall of Fame pitchers who came to Toronto at the tail end of their career, with both the 2,000 strikeout milestone and their best years well in the rearview mirror such that they’re mostly footnotes for Blue Jays purposes. A 48-year old Phil Niekro made three starts for the Jays in August 1987 as a desperation stopgap before Pat Gillick was able to acquire Mike Flanagan as a real upgrade. His 2,000th strikeout nearly pre-dated the Blue Jays franchise, occurring beforehand in April 1978.

Max Scherzer has had a few moments, but has mostly vacillated between injured and ineffective as a Blue Jay. His 2,000th strikeout likewise came well beforehand, back in mid-2017. Jack Morris at least had one solid season left in him before the bottom fell out in 1993, but is best remembered for achievements elsewhere. He was less than a year removed from the 2,000K milestone in April 1991.

The next grouping is a couple of pitchers who were in their primes with the Jays, but were short term rentals and went on record their 2,000th strikeouts later. David Price was electric for the Jays in the 2015 playoff surge, and just made it across the 2,000 mark as his career tailed off. David Cone was so good for the Jays in 1992 that they got him again in 1995 (and they should have retained him as a free agent instead of Dave Stewart). But both those stints together amounted to just 25 games pitched.

At the other end, Roy Halladay stand almost singularly in Blue Jays history. But his 2,000th strikeout came with Philadelphia as he faded in 2012. Then there’s Rogers Clemens, who is a unicorn-ish mix of the first two groups: a Hall of Fame calibre pitcher who was with the Jays during his prime (or second prime, anyway) for a relatively short period such that he’s most remembered for what he did with other teams and off the diamond.

That leaves a group of three into which Gausman best fits. Like Gausman, A.J. Burnett came to the Jays as a high profile free agent, came into his own later such that the second half of his career was better (especially from a strikeout perspective), and had some very good years for the Blue Jays that represent a significant part of his career. Even had he not opted out though, his 2,000th strikeout only came in later 2013.

David Wells doesn’t quite fit that profile, and wasn’t so much a strikeout pitcher as most others mentioned here, just pitched forever. But like Gausman about 40% of his strikeouts came with the Jays, and when all is said and done Toronto will represent the most significant part of a career spanning many stops. His 2,000th strikeout came in early 2005, more than four year after departing the Jays the second time, and almost 18 years after first breaking in with them. His first strikeout came while the SkyDome was still being built and by the time of the 2,000 it was the Rogers Centre.

One final note of interest: while (very unlikely), Gausman has at least an outside shot at 3,000 strikeouts. Though he’s first the Blue Jay to record a 2,000th strikeout with the Jays, even should he stay the Jays and hit that milestone, he will not the first to hit 3,000 with them. That was Clemens, when he struck out Randy Winn to finish off the side in the 3rd inning on July 5, 1998.

The Atlanta Braves have had one of the best offenses in MLB, and they will need to lean on it tonight with Grant Holmes struggling as of late.

The Braves are third in MLB in barrel percentage, and batted ball events. When you hit the ball with quality combined with hitting it often, it generally has positive results. It should be no shock that the Braves are second only behind the Yankees in HRs, fourth in doubles, and first in slugging. This has resulted in the Braves being first in MLB in both OPS and runs scored.

The Braves are on pace for nine-hundred runs scored. This would give them them their most since 2023 and third most since 1897. 2003 was the other season where the offense stuck out with nine-hundred-seven runs.

The lineup should only get better starting with tonight now that Ha-Seong Kim is back, and a Ronald Acuña return right around the corner.

The biggest question going into the lineup tonight was how Kim returning would shake everything up. Yastrzemski has struggled to put things lightly, but has a strong history of being successful against the Cubs’ starter Colin Rea (two HRs and a 1.625 OPS). Dubón has been extremely clutch this season and needs to stay in the lineup if possible. LF makes the most sense for him to play. Without seeing the lineup card, ahead of time the best estimate would be Kim at SS, Dubón in LF, and Yastrzemski in RF.

As can be seen above, these are good problems to have. The Braves have not been this deep in years even with Murphy out again, and it makes it a lot of fun to try and guess which lineup card will be handed in. As it turns out, Weiss went with the following:

Back on Battery Ave. 🏡#BravesCountrypic.twitter.com/K59idie5m4

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 12, 2026

Weiss did in fact go with the most logical lineup in terms of who was starting where after all. With Murphy being on the IL now, it also makes sense that Smith would get the start at DH. Ozzie Albies turning things around this season has been huge. The simple fact that Weiss has the confidence to have him batting second against a RHP is telling, in a good way.

Kim will make his debut hitting eighth and playing SS.

Austin Riley has been heating in May with a .294/.314/.500 slash line and it may continue tonight with him having a .958 OPS against Rea in eight at-bats. Matt Olson, who has been the best hitter MLB as of late, has an OPS of 1.681 against Rea in eight at-bats of his own.

The Cubs have been an offensive force in their own right. They have scored the fourth most runs in MLB, fourth in OPS, sixth in HRs, all while leading MLB in walks. This could be a huge issue for Holmes who has struggled with walks this season.

Only Bregman and Conforto are the only players to face Holmes before. Bregman is hitless in two at-bats, and Conforto has a 1.550 OPS in five at-bats.

First pitch is at 7:15 EDT.

BALTIMORE - In a startling reversal of fortunes for a former franchise stalwart, the New York Yankees promoted shortstop Anthony Volpe from Class AAA Tuesday, May 12, just more than a week after optioning him to the minor leagues, according to multiple reports.

The move comes the same day incumbent shortstop José Caballero was examined by a hand specialist and club orthopedist Michael Ahmad after he suffered an injury to his right middle finger.

Caballero, third among position players with 1.6 WAR, sat out the Yankees’ 3-2 win Monday but did pinch run and was thrown out on an attempted steal for the last out of the game.

Volpe, 25, produced 3.3 and 3.5 WAR in his first two major league seasons, hitting 21 home runs in his 2023 rookie season. But he slumped to a .212 average and .272 OBP last season, after which he underwent shoulder surgery.Rather than call Volpe to the minor leagues, the Yankees simply left him in Triple-A as the reliable Caballero seized the job.

Now, the door is open again for Volpe.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Anthony Volpe called up by Yankees after demotion, trade rumors

LOS ANGELES — Max Muncy hit a home run on Monday against the San Francisco Giants, which might have been expected. The Dodgers third baseman has been hitting the ball hard this season, among the best in baseball, and he already played three games this year against the Giants without hitting a home run.

One home run every four games or so is roughly the clip Muncy has battered the Giants throughout his career, now with 27 home runs in 98 career games against the Dodgers’ longtime rival. Among active players, only Nolan Arenado (34 homers in 156 games) and Paul Goldschmidt (32 home runs in 170 games) have hit more against San Francisco.

Going back 30 years, Todd Helton (29 homers in 230 games) is the only other player with more home runs against the Giants than Muncy.

Since the Dodgers and Giants moved west in 1958, Muncy has the third-most home runs against San Francisco:

• Ron Cey: 34 HR in 163 games
• Willie Davis: 29 HR in 225 games
• Max Muncy: 27 HR in 97 games

Muncy with his 11 home runs this season has already passed Steve Garvey for sixth place on the all-time Dodgers home run list (against everybody, not just the Giants), and is now at 220 home runs since joining Los Angeles, only eight shy of Ron Cey for fifth place, and second place during the Los Angeles years.

A convenient seven of Muncy’s 11 home runs have been hit at home this season, giving him 127 career home runs at Dodger Stadium. That’s second-most in the ballpark’s history, only three behind Eric Karros.

Counting the postseason, Muncy is the most prolific home run hitter ever at Chavez Ravine, with 134 home runs to 132 for Karros.

Tuesday game info

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

The Red Sox and Phillies have had similar starts to the season: they’re two big ballclubs with big aspirations who both immediately fell on their faces, prompting two managerial firings. And while the Phillies have done a better job righting the ship under their new skipper than the Sox have, they’ll both share some history tonight, as it’s the first time in 22 years that two teams with new managers will face off this early in the season. (Thomas Harrigan, MLB.com)

That’s not exactly the type of history teams generally want to make, so here’s some more, slightly better history. When the Sox rolled out five straight left-handed starters last week, it was the first time they had done so since 2018. They’ve also had more games started by rookies this year (14) than any other team and, for the most part, those rookie hurlers have come through. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

Could the Sox have another lefty rookie pitcher a few years down the line who not only follows in the footsteps of Payton Tolle and Connelly Early, but does so as a local kid made good? With the 20th pick in next month’s MLB draft, the Sox could be in line to select Bishop Feehan’s Brody Bumila, a 6-9 lefty who already throws 100 MPH heat. (Hayden Bird, Boston.com)

The success of the rookie Red Sox pitchers points to a well-functioning minor league system. But that system received a shock with the Alex Cora firing and the subsequent coaching staff shuffle, and that hasn’t been easy for the organization to deal with. “There’s times when change happens and you kind of see it coming,” said Portland Sea Dogs coach Kyle Sasala. “None of us saw this coming. I woke up one day and was defensive coach. Next day, I was the manager.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

Speaking of things no one sees coming, is Trevor Story poised to turn his season around? “It’s only a matter of time,” says the veteran shortstop. (Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald)

As Story’s 2025 season reminds us, it’s helpful to have patience in baseball. But can we all be as patient as David Ortiz, who waited nearly 20 years to get revenge on Joe West for calling him ugly?

It was a while back when I posted something in the Feed asking for your hot takes for the rest of the Phillies season.

In the middle of a supremely cold streak is not usually the time to hope for optimism and joy, so naturally a lot of the responses were of the negative variety. Still, it was awesome that so many of you decided to partake, so let’s go through a few of them and talk about them.

In the weeks since the post was put up, Harper has hit .315/.415/.667 with five home runs, 14 runs batted in over 65 plate appearances. He is currently 11th in baseball with a 159 wRC+, 11th with a .405 wOBA, all while doing with so with a pedestrian .279 BABIP. The parameters for what makes one “elite” in the game today likely combine some offense and defense, an issue for a player like Harper that the defensive metrics mostly agree is having a down season to this point. Yet if there was someone on the team that I would consider affixing that label to, Harper is near the top of that list.

Nola? Well, I’m not sure a sub-3.50 ERA is near his future, but getting it under 4 at this point would be a feat unto itself. Crawford was never going to be an All-Star for the National League this season, let alone the starting option.

It’s the Aidan Miller part of this take that caught my eye. Trading him this season is likely off the table. First of all, he’s injured with a mysterious back injury, which torpedoes any value the team might think they could get back in a trade in the first place. Second, he’s still an important part of this team’s future once they are able to get him back onto the field. Without knowing what is going on specifically, it’s hard to determine what that future actually looks like. The team has been hesitant to say out loud what the specific injury is, citing potential HIPAA violations, which leads to speculation. That kind of speculation can be dangerous. Amongst the TGP writing staff, the name “David Wright” is getting bandied about, and not in the good sense. So while there is the theoretical idea that Miller could be moved for something at the trade deadline, the plain truth is that the team isn’t going to do that.

Woooo baby. It’s only fair to link the rest of the post here, too large for a single screenshot to take care of it, but I can also throw it in in another picture for you.

Now, let’s get down to brass tacks here.

Bryce Harper isn’t getting traded by the team. Not now, not ever. Do whatever it is you need to do to flag this, but he’s not going anywhere. Any trade idea that includes his name is just not worth the time. From the reasoning that was taken here, the idea was to do something that would shake up the clubhouse in the midst of a long losing streak, a streak that has since been broken with the assistance of Harper himself.

Now, to the broader idea of shaking up the clubhouse if the team does not advance far enough in the potential postseason, that’s still a viable idea. At some point, the front office is going to have to acknowledge that the group they have assembled needs a refresh, that new faces need to be included. Thus far, Crawford and Andrew Painter have added to that mix, but maybe they will see that something new is indeed necessary. Aidan Miller is theoretically ready to take over for Bohm, but the rest of the roster, as has been written over and over and over, really can’t go anywhere else. Their contracts have sort of anchored them to this team. Would it require creativity? Sure, but that’s why front offices are paid what they are paid.

Here’s another one.

Adolis Garcia.

Where to begin? Is he good or is he not good? Is he part of the team’s future, or is he part of the ever growing list of right fielders that are taking up the space for the Phillies? He’s been a godsend in the outfield for the team, particularly when compared the stone footed Nick Castellanos, but the bat has been lacking. There are some good under the hood things happening – getting his walk rate back in line, hitting the ball very hard – but it hasn’t resulted in extra base power that the team was hoping he’d find again. There is next to no chance the team moves away from him this season as there isn’t much of anything viable enough to replace him at the moment.

He’s just been….fine. Nothing more, nothing less. Do we wish there was improvement? Of course we do. We’re almost 200 plate appearances into the season though. Is that leap coming? Not quite sure that it is.

Who’s Hot At The Plate?

Xavier Neyens – Neyens, the Astros first round pick last year, put together another big week. In 5 games he hit .333 with one home run and an impressive 9 walks to just 3 strikeouts. Neyens has a .985 OPS this season so far.

Nehomar Ochoa – Ochoa is truly having a bounce back year. He had a monster week hitting .545 with 3 doubles, a home run and 4 runs batted in. Playing the best ball of his career, Ochoa is hitting .326 with a .906 OPS over 26 games.

Jason Schiavone – Schiavone has been on an absolute tear. After being on this list last week, he is here again. In six games in Asheville this week, Schiavone hit .400 with 2 doubles, 4 home runs and an OPS of 1.671. He has 15 home runs this season.

Ethan Frey – Frey was a favorite as a prospect who was going to fly up the system but he got off to a slow start. This was a strong week for him though as he hit .391 with 2 home runs, 6 runs batted in and drew 5 walks for Asheville.

Caden Powell– Powell also got off to a slow start but put together a monster week. In four games for Asheville, Powell hit .563 with a double, a home run and 5 runs batted in. Powell is hitting .277 through 24 games this season.

Kyle Walker – Walker also had a big week for Asheville. The 23-year-old played in five games last week and hit .389 with 3 doubles, a home run and 5 runs batted in. He’s hitting .293 through 22 games this season.

Who’s Hot On The Mound?

Ryan Verdugo – Verdugo was drafted in the 12th round of the 2024 draft, and the right-hander turned in his best pro outing this week. In his one start for the Woodpeckers, he tossed 5 no-hit innings while striking out 5 batters.

James Hicks – Hicks has been a bit up and down this year, but this week was a good outing for him. Hicks made one start for the Hooks and went 6 innings allowing 2 runs while striking out 6. He has a 4.55 ERA this season.

Javier Perez – Perez has been one of the best pitchers in the Astros system this season and this week he had a nice start for the Woodpeckers allowing 2 runs over 6 innings. Overall he has a 2.73 ERA with 35 K in 29.2 innings.

Luis Rodriguez – Rodriguez was acquired a couple of years ago in the Julks trade and has been a pleasant surprise. This week in his one outing for Asheville he went 5 innings allowing 2 runs with 4 strikeouts. He has 22 K in 21.2 innings.

TEAM ERA and OPS:

Sugar Land – From 3.84 ERA to 4.33 ERA – From .700 OPS to .708 OPS

Corpus Christi – From 4.48 ERA to 4.90 ERA – From .691 OPS to .703 OPS

Asheville – From 6.92 ERA to 7.75 ERA – From .719 OPS to .770 OPS

Fayetteville – From 5.06 ERA to 4.98 ERA – From .735 OPS to .730 OPS

Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo look back on another tough week, but look ahead to the debut of top prospect A.J. Ewing on the latest episode of The Mets Pod. 

After an underwhelming stretch of play for the Mets, the guys discuss the call up of Ewing, the team's continued offensive struggles, and what to make of Francisco Alvarez. 

Later, Connor and Joe go Down on the Farm to check in on power-hitting prospect Ryan Clifford, and answer Mailbag questions about trade ideas, going back in time to the beginning of the offseason, hitting philosophy, and the overall direction of the franchise. 

Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Yankees are 26-16 and currently in second place in the AL East. Let's open up the mailbag and answer some Yankees questions...

In your opinion, which positions with the Yankees need an upgrade? -- @MrEd315

First of all, the real answer is “not many.”

The Yankees look about as complete as any team I’ve seen outside Los Angeles in several years. I think they will need relief help. And I think they might need to consider another infield bat if Jazz Chisholm Jr.continues to struggle. While Ryan McMahon looks like the best offensive version of himself lately, his career numbers suggest that might not continue. If it does, great. If it doesn’t, the Yankees probably cannot absorb both their third and second baseman struggling offensively if they want to continue cruising through their regular season schedule.

But Chisholm will almost certainly hit sooner or later. He has been open about the impact warmer weather has on him, and his career numbers and underlying metrics suggest better times are coming soon.

As for McMahon, Yankees hitting coaches and teammates have worked so diligently with him that it is possible he is a better hitter now than he used to be. If he outpaces his career OPS (.735) by even 30 points, he will be among the top 10 third baseman in baseball in that category (though admittedly, currently struggling stars like Bo Bichette, Manny Machado, and Matt Chapman seem likely to rise). Still, with his defense, any offense from McMahon is a huge boost. And it is hard to think of another offensive position where the Yanks could even consider upgrading, given the talent they have throughout their roster.

Seems like the concerns of the fans in the offseason – namely not shoring up the pen – are already a problem? -- @mtill50

The bullpen is definitely the weakest link on this roster, though that in itself is not much of an indictment. And while it hasn’t always felt like it, Yankees relievers have actually been very sturdy: Their 3.28 ERA is second only to the Rangers for the best bullpen mark in baseball. Yankees relievers have left 77.1 percent of inherited runners on base, better than all but three teams.

But they are not dominant, and they will need some dominance to make it through October. Their collective Stuff+ rating is middle-of-the-pack. Their swinging strike rating is 10th in baseball. Their strikeouts-per-nine is 17th. Tim Hill and Jake Bird rate highly in Stuff+ individually, but Hill is not a traditional closing option and Bird has not yet proven he can be consistent. Fernando Cruz has been solid. David Bednar has been steady. But neither is blowing hitters away. Still, approximately 28 other teams would be overjoyed to have strong-not-dominant relief options as their biggest problem.

Even so, that unit has shown its cracks as the Yanks have lost four games in a row, three of them late. But cracks in the bullpen are easy to patch midseason, and Brian Cashman has plenty of history of being aggressive in doing so. Though he and his front office have eschewed giving major free agent contracts to elite relievers in recent years, they have traded for multiple relievers during the season in that span. I would assume they plan to do so again, even as arms like those belonging to Carlos Lagrange and others in the minors continue to look like promising options for later this season.

It’s been a real good start, but are there real reasons to believe this season will end any differently than each season since 2010? -- @yankeemac1 on BlueSky

I think there might be more reasons than ever to believe that this season will end differently than every season since their 2009 title, if that’s what you mean (don’t worry, the last decade and a half is a blur for me, too). I think even Aaron Boone and his staff can sense it.

If you’ll remember last October, Boone was adamant that the team that lost to the Blue Jays was one of the best teams he had managed. Now, with a whole offseason of work with McMahon and Jose Caballero and the emergence of Cam Schlittler and the ascension of Max Fried, I have a hard time thinking of a Yankees team that has been better.

In fact, and I will stick by this even if they lose their next 20 games or somehow collapse before our eyes, I think this Yankees team could be the most formidable October challenger the Dodgers have seen in the last two years – particularly after they acquire that inevitable bullpen help in the next few months.

The main reason is their starting pitching: they are deeper than any team but the Dodgers, and maybe even deeper than Los Angeles, depending on how veterans like Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell fare health-wise the rest of the way.

Schlittler is a bona fide ace who pitches like he has never had a doubt in his life. Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon will have plenty of time to figure out their new elbows and less than a full season of innings on their arms by October. Fried looks like a legitimate Cy Young candidate and has proven his October mettle before. They can match up with Snell, Shohei Ohtani, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in a long series, and they can match up with any American League team’s top two starters in a short one.

But beyond that, I think they are also as well-rounded as any Yankees team Boone has had here. No longer is this team just an assembly of huge, station-to-station sluggers. Caballero and Chisholm can really run, and they aren’t afraid to do it. Outside of Giancarlo Stanton, the rest of the lineup is fully capable of stealing bases and has been aggressive in doing so. They can hit for power, but they take enough pitches that they can wear pitchers down and create rallies out of nothing. And with their speed, even a walk is a rally.

Now, for the corny part.

I think the "running it back" concerns that circulated around them this offseason were understandable. I think in some cases (maybe the Phillies, though time will tell), shakeups are needed. But I think with this particular Yankees group, running it back gave a largely veteran roster more time to coalesce. For example, the offseason and spring training built more trust between Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt and McMahon, who has heeded their tutelage offensively and improved because of it. They seem to understand each other’s strengths and take at-bats accordingly. They are comfortable, and they are experienced enough to know what has gone right and wrong for them in the postseason.

I think this is a really, really good team. Of course, we’ve seen really good teams fall in the postseason before. Heck, we’ve seen really good teams fall apart in the regular season before. But this particular really good team is deep, experienced, talented, well-rounded, and comfortable in its own skin. Few teams in recent years, let alone Yankees teams, have been able to say all of that. And even fewer, I gather, have been able to sense it. I think, based on the way veterans talk about their lineup and their clubhouse, that this team does.

Raise your hand if you knew that 41 games into the season — one-quarter of the way — the Braves and Cubs would have the two best records in the National League.

I better not see any hands raised because, no, you didn’t know that. None of us did.

But that should make this a good matchup for this early in the season.

For more on the Braves, here’s Demetrius Bell, manager of our SB Nation Braves site Battery Power.

It’s been a long time (well, a long time for Braves fans) since Atlanta’s looked this good. Despite coming into this series with all types of injury concerns and a lot of legitimate concerns about the pitching staff being able to compete at a high level, things have gone extremely well for the Braves to get this season started. Their 25-10 start through 35 games is actually the best start they’ve had to a season since 1892 (!!!) and while they did end up dropping a series to the Mariners last week, they ended a 6-3 road trip out West with a somewhat comprehensive series win in Los Angeles over the Dodgers. They hadn’t even won a game at Dodger Stadium since 2023 — much less a series. The Braves are rolling and there’s a real sense of excitement about the team at the moment. 

While there was plenty of concern about the pitching staff and the lack of offseason moves that were made to address the questions surrounding the rotation, this appears to have been all part of the plan for Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos. He stated multiple times that he figured that the problem all along for the Braves over their past two seasons had been their lack of hitting (compared to how they mashed the ball in 2022 and 2023). Well, here we are in 2026 and right now, they’re one of the top-hitting teams in all of baseball according to wRC+, wOBA, xwOBA and Isolated Power. 

Matt Olson is playing like the best first baseman (and one of the best players, overall) in baseball at the moment, Drake Baldwin is starting to establish himself as an elite-hitting catcher, Michael Harris II is looking more like the star-caliber player he was during the second half of 2025 instead of the genuinely-awful player he was during the first half of that season and Ozzie Albies is on track for a big-time bounce-back season. Mauricio Dubón has been surprisingly good at the plate as well and they’ve been getting timely hitting from the bench. Walt Weiss has been pushing all the right buttons for most of this squad and some of his pinch hitting/running choices have paid off in spades. 

Pitching-wise, Chris Sale has continued to be consistently good but Bryce Elder has surprisingly been the top guy in the rotation so far. Spencer Strider is back and he looked great during his outing against the Dodgers, so he may be back as well. The questions surrounding the rotation have persisted and that could be Atlanta’s downfall in this series considering that they’ve been going on a series-by-series revolving door of starting pitcher in the back end of their rotation but so far they’ve been relying on Martín Pérez and JR Ritchie to deliver as well. The bullpen has been solid and again, Walt Weiss is managing like someone who understands what high-leverage and low-leverage is. 

The fact that they’ve done all of this with Austin Riley mostly struggling, Ronald Acuña Jr. looking like a normal human being instead of a supernova, Sean Murphy having only played a handful of games and Ha-Seong Kim having played no games is really impressive in my view. I’d say that we haven’t seen this team’s ceiling quite yet, which is exciting for us Braves fans. The Cubs are going to be tough, though and I am really looking forward to seeing how this series shakes out. It should be a fun one!

Fun facts

The Cubs’ next loss to the Braves will be their 900th since 1901, the first season of the Modern Era.

If it comes in this series, it will be their 600th on the road vs. the Braves since 1876, when both were charter members of the new National League. The Cubs have lost exactly 600 on the road against the Phillies.

They have won 556 when visiting the Braves. They are 700-466 at home, for a total record of 1,256-1,065-18. That .541 winning percentage is the Cubs’ second highest against a current NL opponent. They are .544 (285-239) vs. the Padres, who began play in 1969.

Last year, the Cubs won two of three at Atlanta. It was their first series win there since 2018. In 2019-24, they were 3-13.

(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)

Probable pitching matchups

Tuesday: Colin Rea, RHP (4-1, 4.03 ERA, 1.368 WHIP, 3.68 FIP) vs. Grant Holmes, RHP (2-1, 4.34 ERA, 1.313 WHIP, 5.03 FIP)

Wednesday: Shōta Imanaga, LHP (4-2, 2.28 ERA, 0.930 WHIP, 2.81 FIP) vs. JR Ritchie, RHP (1-0, 3.63 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 6.88 FIP)

Thursday: Ben Brown, RHP (1-1, 1.82 ERA, 0.910 WHIP, 2.66 FIP) vs. Chris Sale, LHP (6-2, 2.20 ERA, 0.878 WHIP, 3.48 FIP)

Times & TV channels

Tuesday: 6:15 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, TBS (outside the Cubs and Braves market territories)

Wednesday: 6:15 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network

Thursday: 6:15 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network, Peacock (streaming, Braves broadcast, outside the Cubs and Braves market territories)

Prediction

This series will be a good test for the Cubs, as they come in one game behind Atlanta for the best record in the NL.

The Cubs appear to have the advantage re: pitching matchups in two of these three, so I’m picking that, even though the Cubs have not done well at Truist Park historically (10-15 all-time there, though as noted by John, they did win two of three in Atlanta last year).

Also, the Cubs are 21-9 in games started by RHP and just 6-5 vs. games started by LHP, even though overall their OPS vs. LHP (.804) is better than their OPS vs. RHP (.746).

Up next

The Cubs return to Chicago and go to the South Side for a three-game series against the White Sox beginning Friday evening.