Category: Baseball

Wednesday notes…

• TEAM HISTORY INCOMING: The Cubs can make a small bit of team history with a victory today. This is the 43rd season since 1901 in which they have started 2-3 — about one of every three. It is just the fourth they have begun by alternating losses and wins (loss, win, loss, win, loss). They did not win the sixth game in the previous three, tying in 1914 and losing in 1968 and 1993. The Cubs are 26-15-1 in sixth games after a 2-3 start. They are 16-12-1 after having lost fifth games. They finished above .500 after 20 of their previous 2-3 starts, including the three before this year: 2018 (95-68), 2023 (82-79) and last year (92-70). They won pennants in 1918 and 1935, won the division title in 2008 and earned Wild Card berths in 2018 and last year. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• SPLITSVILLE: Last season, the Cubs split the first two games of 26 three-game series. They won 13 third games and lost 13. They were 6-3 after winning and losing in the first two, including 3-3 at home.
• LEADING THE LEAGUE: Nico Hoerner’s three stolen bases puts him in a four-way tie for the MLB lead with Jake McCarthy (D-backs), David Hamilton (Brewers) and Nasim Nuñez (Nats).
• ALSO LEADING THE LEAGUE: Edward Cabrera’s 0.333 WHIP is tied for the NL lead with Michael McGreevy of the Cardinals.

The Cubs lineup was not available at posting time. Please check BCB social media for the Cubs lineup.

Angels lineup:

Matthew Boyd, LHP vs. Yusei Kikuchi, LHP

Matthew Boyd did not have a good Opening Day start. Nope, not at all.

So let’s hope he’s flushed that one and moving on.

Boyd has not faced the Angels since 2022, and that was a couple of one-inning relief appearances. The only current Angels with more than a handful of at-bats against him are Jorge Soler (6-for-22, 10 strikeouts) and Yoan Moncada (5-for-19, a home run).

Hoping for a better day today, Matthew.

Yusei Kikuchi threw 4.1 innings and allowed two runs to the Astros last Thursday in Houston.

This is his eighth year in MLB and he’s made 200 appearances and 188 starts — but tonight will be his first-ever start against the Cubs. Alex Bregman has hit him well — 7-for-20 (.350) with three doubles, two home runs and eight walks.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit the Angels site Crashing The Pearly Gates. If you do go there to interact with Angels fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

After the Nats dominated in game one, the Phillies pulled out a close one in game two. Now it is time for a rubber match in Philly. Both teams will have their aces on the mound, so this should be a good one. The Nats are looking for their second straight series win to open the season.

With a lefty on the mound, the Nats have altered their lineup a bit. One thing that has not changed is James Wood’s placement as the leadoff hitter. Curtis Mead will make his first start as a Nat, hitting second and playing first base. Jacob Young will be back in the lineup, which slides Joey Wiemer over to center field. Brady House and Drew Millas are also back in the lineup. Daylen Lile will be the DH today. Cade Cavalli will be making his second start of the season and hopefully the righty can go deeper in the game this time.

The Phillies are rolling with the same lineup they had in yesterday’s win. We know most of these guys well at this point. The former Nats are at the top of the order, while home grown guys like Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott follow. Cristopher Sanchez established himself as a true ace last season and pitched well on Opening Day. He will look to continue his dominant run against the Nats.

Game Info:

Stadium: Citizens Bank Park

Time: 1:05 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

Another series win against a team that made the playoffs last year would be massive for the Nats. However, it will be tough with Sanchez on the mound. With the red hot Joey Wiemer, the Nats have handled left handed pitching this season. Sanchez will be a different animal though. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!

It already feels like the Orioles are teetering on the edge of the abyss. That’s being dramatic, of course. They’ve only played five games out of 162, which is 3.1% of a baseball season. If the Orioles went 2-3 over any random stretch in June or July, no one would blink at that. But here at the start of the year, when there’s nothing else that’s happened yet and it all feels connected to the same malaise from last year, it’s bad.

Add to this Zach Eflin’s probably-season-ending injury from Tuesday night already taxing the starting pitching depth, and a bullpen that pretty much nobody believed in having some anticipated problems (Yaramil Hiraldo) and some less anticipated ones (Tyler Wells) and it’s a recipe for bad feelings.

Win today to avoid the sweep by Texas and the Orioles are 3-3 and that will stave off some misery. If they have more problems and fall to 2-4, then every concern will be one game closer to being solidified and the team will be starting to dig its way into a hole it will need to escape from. As we know from last year, the deeper the hole gets, the harder it is to address that later.

At least it’s Trevor Rogers day. Hopefully that turns out to be a good thing.

Orioles lineup

1. Taylor Ward – DH
2. Gunnar Henderson – SS
3. Pete Alonso – 1B
4. Samuel Basallo – C
5. Coby Mayo – 3B
6. Dylan Beavers – LF
7. Colton Cowser – RF
8. Leody Taveras – CF
9. Jeremiah Jackson – 2B

It’s the first start of the year for Taveras.

The young 4-5-6 hitters in today’s lineup have all not yet done much at the plate in 2026. Hopefully they can flip that around some today.

Rangers lineup

1. Brandon Nimmo – DH
2. Wyatt Langford – CF
3. Corey Seager – SS
4. Jake Burger – 1B
5. Andrew McCutchen – RF
6. Danny Jansen – C
7. Josh Jung – 3B
8. Ezequiel Duran – 2B
9. Sam Haggerty – LF

The Orioles batters will be facing Nathan Eovaldi initially. He had a rocky 2026 debut. Maybe they can continue that problem for him. That would be fun for us.

Mets lineup

1. Francisco Lindor – SS
2. Juan Soto – LF
3. Bo Bichette – 3B
4. Jorge Polanco – DH
5. Luis Robert – CF
6. Mark Vientos – 1B
7. Marcus Semien – 2B
8. Francisco Alvarez – C
9. Tyrone Taylor – RF

Freddy Peralta – RHP

Cardinals lineup

1. JJ Wetherholt – 2B
2. Ivan Herrera – DH
3. Alec Burleson – 1B
4. Masyn Winn – SS
5. Nolan Gorman – 3B
6. Thomas Saggese – LF
7. Nathan Church – RF
8. Pedro Pages – C
9. Victor Scott – CF

M. Liberatore – LHP

Broadcast info

First pitch: 1:15 PM EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2

Over the first week of games, you may have noticed pitchers, catchers, and hitters tapping their head after a pitch, signaling for a review. After six years of testing in the minors, MLB has implemented an Automated Ball Strike (ABS) challenge system that allows players (not coaches) to ask for a replay review of balls and strikes. Through the first week of games, the new wrinkle has brought added excitement and accountability to umpires. So how does it work?

Human umpires still call balls and strikes behind home plate. But if a pitcher, catcher, or hitter wants to challenge the ruling, they have to tap their head. Each team will be given two challenges during the first nine innings, with one challenge in each extra inning. Each team gets an additional challenge in the tenth inning. If that challenge is used, they’ll receive another in the next inning; if not, it carries over

The home plate umpire will announce the challenge, and the replay will be displayed on the ballpark video board. It should take no more than 15 seconds for the Automatic Ball Strike ruling to be issued. If the call is confirmed, the challenging team loses its challenge, but a team with a successful challenge will retain its challenge. Challenges are not allowed after replay reviews, or when a position player is pitching. If there is potential for a replay review after an ABS challenge, umpires will check to see if either manager wants to initiate a replay review before restarting the pitch clock. MLB has implemented a delay on all pitch location data to prevent teams from basing their challenge on the GameDay feed or other ball-tracking systems.

How is the strike zone determined? Each ballpark has a dozen Hawk-Eye technology cameras installed to capture player and ball movement. Each player has been officially measured, which has led to some amusing cases of players “shrinking.”

The top of the strike zone is set at 53.5% of the player’s height, while the bottom is set at 27%. The depth of the zone extends 8.5 inches in front of and behind the center of the plate. The zone is 17 inches wide, the width of home plate.

The strike zone is two-dimensional, rather than three-dimensional. Testing in the minors showed that some breaking balls barely nicked the front of the zone, only to move out of the zone as it crossed the batter, causing inconsistencies in calls.

Players have two seconds to challenge a pitch, although as we found out in the Royals’ game on Monday, the challenge may be made within two seconds after the play ends, such as when Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers made a snap throw to first.

How will ABS affect the placement of runners?  The umpires will let stand any calls unaffected by the incorrect call, but if an incorrect ball/strike call impacts a play on the bases, the umpires have discretion to then place any runners involved.

In the Royals/Rangers exhibition game last month, Seth Lugo threw a pitch that was called ball four. But the runner at first took off for second and eased up – perhaps because he thought it was a ball four call that would have forced him to second safely. Salvador Perez called for a challenge, and the call stood, but if it were overturned, Langford could have potentially been called out at the umpire’s discretion. Players will have to learn to ignore any calls, assuming it could be overturned.

Speaking of Salvy, he has been terrific at calling for challenges, successful on four of five so far. Baseball Savant even tracks which players are making the most valuable challenges. Here is the catcher leaderboard:

Royals hitters have made just one challenge, with Maikel Garcia getting a call overturned on Monday against the Twins. The Royals have been formulating a strategy on how to deal with challenges, and will not allow pitchers to challenge.

“No. 1, I don’t think pitchers should challenge any call,” pitching coach Brian Sweeney said Saturday. “Let the guy behind the plate, who has the feel for it, [do it]. I’m sure we’re going to see it over there right away. A pitcher is going to square up the glove, it’ll be a ball, he’ll go like that [tap his hat], and it’ll be a foot off the plate. It’s a process we’re trying to understand and talking to R&D and the guys in the Minor Leagues who have used it before.

The early data shows that teams are successful overturning calls slightly more than half the time, consistent with numbers from testing in the minors.

But the addition of the challenge system has brought an added measure of excitement to the ballpark. Testing in the minors showed it only added a minute to the length of games. It has added some drama to situations as fans await the outcome of a challenge.

It has also added some accountability for umpires, particularly for those that have been notoriously inconsistent.

It will also be interesting to see how the technology impacts the game. Will pitchers nibble more at the edges, hoping to hit the strike zone box? Could we see more high strikes – something many umps are less likely to call? How will teams use their challenges? Will hitters draw heat from teammates for overusing challenges? Will a catcher like Salvador Perez, who has fared poorly in framing metrics – seem like a more valuable catcher based on his challenges and the lessening value in framing? Will the system undermine the authority of umpires?

What do you think of the ABS challenge system so far? Any tweaks that need to be made?

Here are the lineups for the series finale against Washington, with a chance to win the series. Cristopher Sanchez looks for his second win of the season, while the Nats’ Cade Cavalli looks for his first.

For the Phillies:

For the Nationals:

The latest news on the Houston Astros and everybody else.

This was the worst blown call of the season so far, and it benefitted the Astros:

Astros managerJoe Espada had strong praise for RP Cody Bolton, who pitched well in his Astros’ debut last night:

The soon-to-be 28 year old Bolton entered last night’s game with only 42 innings of major league experience, and little success. Can he be the next pitcher to go to the “Astros’ Lab” and come out better?

The Astros have been chasing starting pitchers early:

Hunter Brown became the second fastest Astros pitcher to 600 strikeouts, doing so in 102 games. Only teammate Lance McCullers Jr. got there faster (100 games).

DBacks’ Jose Fernandez joins an exclusive club, as he becomes the 8th player in MLB history with a 2 HR game in his MLB debut:

Rookies are having huge starts to the season:

C.B. Bucknor continues to work on being the worst umpire in MLB. Thankfully there is replay.

Baseball pranks are the best:

How about some former All-Time Met on former All-Time Met crime?

Get ready for an awful lot more of these from Phillies’ phenom Andrew Painter:

Sometimes all you can do after you get gunned down on the bases is shake your head in amazement, like Cody Bellinger:

The Dodgers on Wednesday acquired pitcher Jake Eder from the Washington Nationals, in exchange for cash considerations.

Eder was designated for assignment by Washington on Saturday. The left-hander pitched in the majors in parts of the previous two seasons, appearing in one game for the Chicago White Sox in 2024 and seven games for the Angels in 2025. Over those two years, Eder has a 4.87 ERA with 16 strikeouts and 10 walks in 20 1/3 innings.

All of Eder’s major league appearances have been in relief, while in the minors all 69 of his games have been starts. Last season, between Salt Lake and Rochester in Triple-A had a 6.59 ERA with 61 strikeouts, 20 walks, and 15 home runs in 68 1/3 innings.

The 27-year-old has 42 days of major league service time, and has one option year remaining, having used options in 2024 and 2025.

To make room on the 40-man roster for Eder, the Dodgers moved Jake Cousins to the 60-day injured list. Cousins, who signed a one-year deal on March 25, had Tommy John surgery last June and isn’t expected back until midseason at the earliest.

Finishing out a road trip in which they are 1-4, the Colorado Rockies look to go out on a high note with a series win before kicking off their home opener on Friday. Unfortunately for them, they face a tough customer for the Toronto Blue Jays (4-1), as it will be a battle of the Colorado kids to close out the series.

Kyle Freeland (0-1, 4.15 ERA) makes his second start of the year for the Rockies’ rotation. The first time through the rotation, the starting pitching hasn’t been bad, but it hasn’t been great. In the season opener, Freeland labored through 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts, having thrown 81 pitches. The Rockies remain the only team not to have a starting pitcher go five innings yet this season. It would be quite beneficial if Freeland could go a bit longer into this game and help relieve a bullpen that has already worked quite a bit to start the year. In his career, Freeland owns a 9.31 ERA against Toronto in two starts and a 7.20 ERA in his lone start at the Rogers Centre.

Kevin Gausman (0-0, 1.50 ERA) takes the hill for the Blue Jays after a spectacular performance in his first outing of the year. The Denver native allowed just one run on one hit, a home run, facing the Athletics in the season opener. He went six innings, didn’t allow a single walk, and struck out 11 batters on 83 pitches, 60 of which were strikes. Gausman has been one of the most reliable and effective starters in baseball since his 2020 season with the San Francisco Giants and has only gotten better while in Toronto. A certified workhorse, Gausman has thrown at least 170 innings a year over the last five seasons, all while boiling down to a two or three-pitch mix. Gausman offers pinpoint control, making his fastball and splitter mix effective against hitters, with a slider tossed in for good measure. He has a 4.78 ERA in his nine career starts against Colorado.

Additionally, the Rockies have activated Tyler Freeman from the injured list and sent Braxton Fulford down to Triple-A Albuquerque.

And now to the details.

First Pitch: 11:07 pm MDT

TV: Rockies TV

Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)

SBN Site: Bluebird Banter

Lineups:

For the visiting Rockies:

and the Blue Jays:

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

Kevin Gausman’s splitter was too hard to handle for the A’s on opening night, and I expect similar struggles from the Colorado Rockies this afternoon.

Find out why with my Rockies vs. Blue Jays predictions and MLB picks for today's game.

Rockies vs Blue Jays predictions

Rockies vs Blue Jays best bet: Kevin Gausman Over 6.5 strikeouts (-145)

When Kevin Gausman is locating his split-finger fastball, he's one of the most unhittable pitchers in all of baseball. 

This was the case last week when he rang up 11 A’s batters on Opening Night, and I’m expecting a similar outcome this afternoon against the Colorado Rockies. 

The Rockies batted just .133 against the splitter last season with a MLB-worst 41.5% strikeout rate, including striking out eight times against Gausman in his lone start against them.

Gausman had a 34% K-rate with his splitter last season and a 72.7% rate in his last outing vs the A’s.

COVERS INTEL: Kevin Gausman is averaging 7.8 strikeouts per game over his last five starts.

Rockies vs Blue Jays same-game parlay (SGP)

The Toronto Blue Jays are averaging 5.2 runs per game this season, going Over the 4.5-run mark in four out of their five games this year. With Freeland and his career 9.31 ERA when facing Toronto on the mound, I think they'll eclipse that mark again.

I’ll also add Kazuma Okamoto to go Over his hits prop. He’s logged a hit in every game this season, including two dingers, and will have the platoon advantage against Kyle Freeland.

Rockies vs Blue Jays SGP

• Kevin Gausman Over 6.5 strikeouts
• Kazuma Okamoto Over 0.5 hits
• Jays team total Over 4.5

Rockies vs Blue Jays home run pick: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (+285)

I’m only making this a half-unit wager. Freeland is a line-drive contact pitcher who gets hit hard by righties, and the best line drive right-handed power hitter on the Jays is Vladdy, who's certainly primed to hit his first homer of the season.

Rockies vs Blue Jays odds

• Moneyline: Colorado +240 | Toronto -290
• Run line: Colorado +1.5 (+115) | Toronto -1.5 (-135)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 | Under 7.5

Rockies vs Blue Jays trend

The Over is 7-3 in the last 10 games between these teams. Find more MLB betting trends for Rockies vs. Blue Jays.

How to watch Rockies vs Blue Jays and game info

Rockies vs Blue Jays latest injuries

Rockies vs Blue Jays weather

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

The Atlanta Braves are set to face off against the offensively struggling Athletics in a series finale that features both staff aces in Chris Sale and Luis Severino.

The Braves have only scored 3.80 runs thus far and the Athletics have only scored 3.20. The crazy part is even though the Braves have a thin rotation they have the second-best ERA per game in MLB. If the Braves win today, they will have won their first two series of the year and started 4-2. That seems much better than last year when the Braves were swept twice and started 0-7.

If the Braves lose then they will have lost a series to an inferior opponent on paper and started the season off with a .500 record in their first six games. Although this game is only one of many, it is a game that on paper they are supposed to win. If the Braves want to stay in playoff contention it is games like today that will be a key to them getting there.

First pitch is at 12:15 PM EDT.

Lineup

Preview

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Giants fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

Opening Week was a little bit funny in the NL West. Everyone expects the Los Angeles Dodgers to run away with the division, but it didn’t need to happen so fast, did it? But no. With one series in the books, the Dodgers stood a perfect 3-0, while the rest of the division had a combined record of 1-11.

It won’t stay that way forever, of course. The Dodgers have, thankfully, lost a baseball game since then, while your San Francisco Giants have won one (two, even!). But the sentiment remains: LA is expected to be in a subdivision of their own within the actual division.

Conventional wisdom has the Dodgers alone atop the NL West, and the Colorado Rockies alone at the bottom, while the Giants, San Diego Padres, and Arizona Diamondbacks battle for runner-up supremacy. In the expanded playoff era, the Giants don’t need to be the leader among that trio to make the playoffs — hell, they don’t even need to be second! — but it sure helps. Which means that we’ll likely spend the bulk of the year, if not all of it, watching the standings to see how the Giants stack up against Arizona and San Diego.

Both teams have their share of star power, accompanied by some very loud question marks. So we want to poll you and get your opinion: which team poses the biggest threat to the Giants in the standings?

Rise and shine everyone! We got an early one today as the Athletics wrap up their first road trip of the year. Toronto was not kind to us but Atlanta has been a bit better after yesterday’s first victory of the year. Another win today and we’ll also have our first series win of the season.

We got our Opening Day starter Luis Severino back on the mound for his second appearance of the year. His performance on Opening Night was solid as he pitched five full innings against the Blue Jays while only allowing two runs. The A’s would gladly take that again today against a Braves squad that is 3-2 to start their campaign.

Here’s how the starting lineup looks for the finale against the Braves:

With today being get away day for the club manager Mark Kotsay is giving a couple of his regulars the finale off. Catcher Shea Langeliers, who is tied for the league lead with four home runs already, gets breather as he’ll only DH today while Austin Wynns gets his catcher’s gear on. That means regular DH Brent Rooker will need to grab his outfielder’s glove and get ready to play the grass, taking over in right field for Lawrence Butler. who is just 1-for-12 to start the year.

No Nick Kurtz either today as Andy Ibanez gets the start at first base. We can likely expect to see Kurtz make a late-game appearance if the score is close so having his stick on the bench will come in handy if the A’s need a big hit.

And another day with no Jeff McNeil, who is also struggling to get going after collecting just one hit so far. This’ll be his second day off in a row so hopefully he’s not dealing with any sort of injury this early in the year. That means Darell Hernaiz gets his second start of the year at the keystone. He’s still looking for his first hit of the year after going 0-for-3 on Saturday. Maybe today’s the day for him.

The Braves meanwhile will be sending their own Opening Night starter to the mound in Chris Sale. He looked like the Chris Sale of old in his first start of the season, shutting the Kansas City Royals down for six innings and allowing just three hits. The A’s will be hoping to do more damage against the ace lefty.

And the Atlanta lineup:

First series win of the year? Sounds like a good way to end this East Coast road trip. Let’s go A’s!

The 2026 season for the Single-A Hill City Howlers begins Thursday.

First things first, the team underwent a rebrand in the offseason, transitioning from the Lynchburg Hillcats to the Hill City Howlers. Personally, I love it. They just sound more ferocious. The Howlers released a preliminary roster Tuesday. Here are the active players we have so far:

Pitchers:

Eudry Alcantara RHP, Jerfis Alfaro RHP, Harrison Bodendorf LHP, Wes Burton RHP, Luke Fernandez RHP, Miguel Flores LHP, Ettore Giulianelli RHP, Nelson Keljo LHP, Aidan Major RHP, Will McCausland RHP, Chase Mobley RHP, Joey Oakie RHP, Angel Perez RHP, Zane Petty RHP, Jacob Zibin RHP, Keegan Zinn RHP.

Analysis:

All eyes will be on top pitching prospect Joey Oakie as the headliner of this starting rotation, and rightfully so after his extremely promising finish to 2025. I’ll be interested to see what development former 10th round pick Jacob Zibin has made after pitching the entire 2025 campaign healthy for the first time in his career. Aidan Major, a 2024 fourth round pick, will be making his pro debut after missing last season with Tommy John surgery. Chase Mobley earned a huge bonus from Cleveland in 2024 and has a high ceiling, but likely will be a long developmental project.

Catchers:

Tyler Howard RHH, Victor Izturis LHH, Cannon Peebles SH.

Analysis:

I don’t see a ton here in terms of catching prospects, but Howard (11th round) and Peebles (17th round) were both 2025 draft picks by Cleveland while Izturis is finally making his full-season debut after three years in Arizona.

Infielders:

Luis De La Cruz SH 1B, Dauri Fernandez SH SS/3B, Anthony Martinez LHH 1B, Johnathan Martinez SH 2B, Yaikel Mijares SH 3B, Riley Nelson 1B LHH, Gabriel Rodriguez LHH SS.

Analysis:

Talk about a youth movement. The big names here are Dauri Fernandez and Gabriel Rodriguez. Fernandez had an extremely impressive 2025 campaign and could get a rocket strapped to him if his development continues in the same trajectory while Rodriguez has continued steady production and looks like he has the strong defensive chops to stay at shortstop. Nelson and Martinez also are interesting college bats from the 2025 draft.

Outfielders:

Robert Arias LHH CF, Juneiker Caceres LHH RF, Yeiferth Castillo LHH LF, Yerlin Luis SH LF, Jose Pirela LHH RF.

Analysis:

The oldest player in this group is Luis at an ancient 20 years old, incredible. Juneiker Caceres made a name for himself by raking a both Arizona and Lynchburg last season, but don’t forget about Robert Arias and Yeiferth Castillo. Arias has been an on-base machine his first two seasons, walking more than he struck out while Castillo has some sneaky power, blasting five home runs in Arizona last season despite standing just 5-foot-8.

Hill City is home of Cleveland’s youth movement, with prominent teenage infield, pitching and outfield prospects all getting huge full-season opportunities. Many of the high-end prospects may be on the other three full-season squads, but we’re getting a tremendous preview of the future of Cleveland’s offense and pitching with this team.

Which players are catching your eye as the Single-A season starts? Tell us in the comments below:

This Major League team is tough to watch, right? Well, guess what? The WooSox, featuring Nick Sogard, Nate Eaton, Kristian Campbell — all guys with playing time in the organization in the last year — are raking in the series opener in St. Paul. Let’s get right into it!

Worcester: W, 19-3 (BOX SCORE)

You ever see a box score that makes you blink at a certain stat and wish you were there, just to know how it felt to witness it in person? This was yesterday’s game for me.

The WooSox scored nineteen runs off of thirteen hits and TWENTY walks issued by the Saints (Twins AAA). This was actually the most walks drawn in the International League in two decades. St. Paul used seven pitchers and every single one of them issued a walk and all but former WooSox member Dan Altavilla allowed a hit. This game was honestly over in the first inning when the WooSox scored 8 runs, but it was REALLY over when Kristian Campbell emptied the bases with a long single in the sixth, making the game 12-3. It was so over that over wasn’t the word to use by the time Nick Sogard hit a grand slam. The slam was Sogard’s third hit of the game and capped off a 10-run sixth inning in which the team sent fourteen hitters to the plate. The game also featured Allan Castro’s first two hits and four RBIs of the season.

Even though the WooSox pitching staff walked nine St. Paul batters, that incredible sixth inning also capped off Seth Martinez powering through three innings in relief without allowing a baserunner. That grind of a relief effort helped matters, but no one was stopping the club regardless yesterday.

Have a happy Wednesday!