Category: Baseball

SEATTLE — Yankees first basemen of all ages delivered the thump to make sure they got out of T-Mobile Park with a series win.

On a day when Cam Schlittler dominated again before the bullpen made things hairy late, Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt each homered and combined to drive in all five runs to secure a 5-3 win over the Mariners on Wednesday afternoon.

Rice started and ended the scoring, ripping an RBI double in the first inning before crushing a 427-foot blast in the ninth for his first home run of the year.

The lefty slugger reached base eight times in the three-game series, continually in the middle of rallies.

“His at-bats have been outstanding,” manager Aaron Boone said. “This whole series — really the entire trip, but especially this series, I feel like, man, the patience, not missing his pitches, he’s found a couple holes and then really good swing on that last changeup to extend the lead for us on a no-doubter to right-center. He feels dialed in to me and obviously we know what he’s capable of.”

Rice acknowledged a “couple bounces went my way down the line, but I think the quality of at-bat overall has been good.”

As has his quality of contact, as his three batted balls Wednesday came off the bat at 108.2 mph, 102.5 mph and 98.9 mph.

The 27-year-old was starting at DH for Giancarlo Stanton, which allowed Goldschmidt to get into the lineup for the second time this season, this time against righty George Kirby.

The Mariners hurler got Goldschmidt to strike out looking in each of his first two at-bats before the veteran got a 97 mph fastball down the middle in the sixth inning and did not miss, clobbering it for a three-run shot that put the Yankees ahead 4-0.

“He’s such a big part of that group in there — one of the heartbeats in there,” Boone said. “He’s been great for our culture ever since he walked in the doors last year. When he hits that ball, everyone gets a little extra excited because they want it for him because they know how much he gives to that room.”

The 38-year-old Goldschmidt, a lefty crusher, only hit three home runs off righties all last season in 366 plate appearances.

But he made the most of his start against Kirby while adding a few picks at first base to save his defense.

“I knew coming back here that we had Benny at first and G DHing,” Goldschmidt said. “So I knew this wasn’t going to be a place, unless somebody got hurt, that I would be playing every single day. But I love these guys in this lineup, I love being a Yankee and just have so much fun here. Obviously a great team that has a chance to win. I knew what I was going to be doing, so I’m happy to do whatever they need me to do.”

The bottom third of the Kansas City lineup has taken care of business for the second consecutive game, but in much more spectacular fashion tonight. Scoring started in the second with two out and no one on when Jac Caglianone hit a 110.1 mph rocket to center for a double. Collins hit the next ball 110.9 mph to top Jac and bring him home on another double followed by a Kyle Isbel RBI single. He then stole second and Maikel Garcia hit a hard to field ball off of Brooks Lee’s glove at short to score the third run on the inning. That was just the beginning.

Another run scored in the 3rd on a popup to third by India that the fog hid from Royce Lewis.

And another came the next inning after Cags, Collins, and Isbel all reached again and Garcia hit a sac fly. The rain really got going as KC batted 11 in the 6th. Walks, HBPs, errors, and a Jonathan India grand slam brought seven more runs and a $25,000 Sonic Slam winner. The rest of the game was hampered significantly by the weather but without any extended stoppage of play. At 12-1, it looked like the Royals would cruise to victory.

Jac, Isaac, and Kyle combined to go 8 of 11 with a BB and HBP reaching base in all but 3 of their 14 plate appearances. Isbel tacked a solo shot on in the 7th to finish the dominant performance off for the bottom of the order. All of the starting 9 at least reached base with Carter Jensen sneaking a single in during the 8th to join in on the fun, but it was the back of the lineup that carried the load today.

On the pitching side, Noah Cameron was very sharp to begin the night, especially the first two innings. He through a first pitch strike to each of the first six Minnesota batters but did seem to lose some command in the 4th and 5th innings. He got through that 5th despite giving up a lot of hard contact and was pulled with a final line of 5IP, 4H, 1BB, 1ER, and 5K and the win. That is a solid start to his sophomore campaign.

Daniel Lynch, Alex Lange, and Brady Falter all struggled to find the zone a bit with Lynch giving up 3 runs in the 7th, Lange 2 in the 8th before Cruz came in and finished the inning, and Falter 3 in the 9th. There were a lot of walks and hit batters from both teams due to the wet baseballs, so I would not read too much into their less than spectacular performances. It did make the game look closer than it felt and even ended up in a save situation that brought in Lucas Erceg to seal the deal.

There were also a ton of ABS challenges, 9 out of 11 were overturned and the Royals only went one for two. Since the game was not very close, none of these mattered all that much in the end. Still, it was a busy day for the new system and a very high success rate.

In the end, the Royals move to 3-2 on the year. They are above .500 and going for sweep against the Twins tomorrow. There is a bit more rain in the forecast again and that 1:00 pm start time is definitely in jeopardy.

Gavin Williams was unbelievable today. I could end the recap right here and pretty adequately sum up the events of tonight’s rubber match. He was in full control of the game for basically all seven innings. This performance from Gavin vindicates all of us loyal Gavin Williams believers who truly know that this domination is what he can do every single time he takes the mound. I have no notes for his performance which, if you’ve read any of my articles before, is rare. He had every single pitch working for him, and completely silenced the best lineup in baseball. He kept his fastball in the upper half, and sequenced it beautifully with his cutter & breaking pitches. He was getting his sinker to jump into the outer-third against righties all night. He was getting chase, and generated 16 (SIXTEEN) swings and misses. Truly a spectacular performance from him. This is exactly what I want him to do (within reason) every night. This performance showcases exactly why he can be not just a Cy Young finalist, but a legitimate contender to win it. Just look at this beautiful chart (obtained from the lovely Thomas Nestico, @TJStats on X, as always).

To the offense! Daniel Schneemann got the fun started with a true do-it-yourself run. He doubled, then stole third and, on a throwing error from Will Smith, waltzed home. Arias followed that up with a missile to center.

It was more-or-less quiet until the 8th, when our sleeping giant finally woke up.

(By the way, why on EARTH did Dave Roberts bring in a lefty for Jose? With Manzardo right behind him, why would you pitch to the guy who notoriously nukes lefties. I get it’s Tanner Scott, but why even take the risk?)

Anywho, Shawn Armstrong got himself into some trouble in the 8th, giving up a single and double to Hernandez and Pages, respectfully. He struck out Alex Freeland for the second out, and was then replaced by Erik Sabrowski to face Shohei Ohtani. Erik Sabrowski, if you weren’t already aware, is an unbelievable talent. On the majority of teams in MLB, he would be their best reliever. He came in and got Ohtani out on three pitches, two of which were out of the zone.

For reference, Sabrowski has generated whiffs on 46.2% of pitches this year (per @TJStats). FOURTY-SIX. Insanity. He’s a monster.

Cade Smith came on in the 9th and, well, wasn’t as sterling as is expected of him. Gave up back to back barrels to Freddie Freeman and Will Smith. Freeman’s, unfortunately, left the park. That was the Dodgers’ only run tonight. Cade has been a little iffy to start the year, but hopefully he gets back on track when the team comes back to Cleveland on Friday.

If you haven’t already (and are able), get tickets to watch the Guardians this homestand. Among the highlights: Opening Day festivities on Friday, Chase DeLauter’s (regular season) Cleveland debut, and last, but not least, Jose has a chance to sit atop the Guardians’ franchise games played leaderboard on Monday if he plays every game. A lot to watch for, so please turn out.

By the way, 4-3 against two World Series contenders to start the year.

Pretty good.

See you on Opening Day!

When the key moment arose in the bottom of the sixth inning Wednesday night, the Dodgers had what they wanted. 

Two runners on and nobody out. Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Tucker due up to the plate.

On paper, those two sluggers are the best (or, at least, highest-paid) hitters in the team’s star-studded lineup. 

However, during an anemic opening week from the entire Dodgers offense, they’ve also been among many swinging an ice-cold bat.

That didn’t change in an eventual 4-1 loss to the Cleveland Guardians, which cost the Dodgers this three-game series and ended their opening homestand on a sour note.

Ohtani bounced into a rally-killing double play, rolling over on a first-pitch cutter Cleveland starter Gavin Williams threw right down the middle.

Tucker ended the inning a pitch later on a flyout to right, missing on yet another dead-red cutter Williams left over the heart of the plate.

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So goes things for the Dodgers (4-2) through the first six games of the season. Their pitching has been stout. They have more wins than losses. But their biggest stars have not yet begun to hit.

Not even close.

“I think right now, offensively, most of our guys are scuffling,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s obviously a very talented lineup. And right now, it just seems like a lot of guys are in-between.” 

That includes Ohtani, who is now batting .167 after a 0-for-3 performance Wednesday that followed a rare session of on-field batting practice pregame.

It includes Tucker, whose average is down to .174 following a 0-for-4 clunker and nine total strikeouts in his last five games.

And it includes Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith, who went a combined 1-for-11 in the loss to the Guardians (4-3) to finish the night hitting .136, .208 and .200, respectively.

All five of those big names also have an OPS of .700 or worse.

“I think you can talk to every single one of us,” said Freeman, who had the lone hit of the group with a shutout-negating home run in the ninth, “and say we wish we had a better offensive first week.”

Much credit Wednesday, of course, goes to Williams. Entering the night, the right-hander had a 13.03 ERA in three career games against the Dodgers. This time, he spun seven scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts –– outshining Yoshinobu Yamamoto in his six-inning, two-run, two-strikeout grind of an outing.

Still, questions about the Dodgers offense are nonetheless starting to surface.

They won’t go away until their superstars start to hit.

“I know we’re looking for some answers here, but we’re still OK,” Freeman insisted. “We’re 4-2. We have not played well yet as an offense. We’ll get it going.”

What it means

For now, the Dodgers hope very little.

Six games, after all, is a minuscule sample size. Eventually, their expectation is for performances across-the-board to rise.

“There’s going to be guys that we’re talking about that are off to slow starts, and then a series later, the article is going to be ‘He’s off to a hot start,’” Roberts argued pregame, already trying to head off any early-season concern. 

“It could change in two days. So it’s certainly overblown. I completely understand it, but the guys that have been around a long time understand that you can’t let that affect you.”

Afterward, he doubled down on that message.

“You still got to give credit to the guys making pitches,” he said. “I think that we’ll get our groove.”

Who’s hot

The one exception to the team’s glaring hitting woes: Andy Pages.

The third-year outfielder went 3-for-3 Wednesday with a double, giving him a .429 batting average so far with nine total knocks –– four more than anyone else on the team.

All spring, the Dodgers raved about the 25-year-old slugger, with both Roberts and teammates repeatedly praising the quality of his at-bats and the maturation of his daily approach.

So far, it is all paying off; evidenced not only by his big opening-week production, but the fact he has struck out only two times in his first 21 trips to the plate.

“He’s controlling the zone,” Roberts said. “And he’s hitting to all fields.”

Who’s not

There are plenty of candidates here, so let’s go with something broader.

Entering the season, the Dodgers expected to have a relentless approach from the entirety of their lineup. This week, they got an opposite set of results.

In their three games against the Guardians, the team struck out 29 times while drawing only six walks. For a club that was supposed to count “quality of at-bats” as its primary calling card, even Roberts acknowledged that was the one part of this week that was  “a little concerning.”

“I think that guys trying to find their swings is one thing,” he said. “But … We’re striking out at quite a clip.” 

Up next

The Dodgers are off Thursday, before beginning their first road trip of the season on Friday. They will start in Washington with three games against the Nationals, then head to Toronto next week for a World Series rematch with the Blue Jays.

Sure, it’s very early. Maybe that’s why all Dodgers’ batters seem to be hitting is the snooze button — snoozing and, on Wednesday, losing 4-1 to the Cleveland Guardians.

Only Andy Pages has looked alert in the Dodgers’ super-imposing lineup, which would have been shut out before a crowd of 45,556 at Dodger Stadium if not for Freddie Freeman’s two-out home run in the ninth inning.

Before Freeman’s 407-foot blast, Pages had the only two hits off Guardians starter Gavin Williams. Cleveland’s 6-foot-6 right-hander had Dodgers hitters scuffling for seven innings, striking out 10 as the Guardians won for the second time in the three-game series.

Read more:Shohei Ohtani battles through the rain to throw a one-hit gem in Dodgers' win

Otherwise, the Dodgers only seriously threatened when reliever Shawn Armstrong was on the mound in the eighth inning and they got runners on second and third, as Pages doubled over Teoscar Hernández, who had singled.

But then Shohei Ohtani struck out on three pitches to end the inning.

A day off and a road trip are now just what Doc ordered: manager Dave Roberts suggested a day to reset and some hostile crowds in Washington and then Toronto, where the Dodgers won last season's epic, seven-game World Series against the Blue Jays, could help get his club’s juices flowing.

Freeman, too, said he’s confident the Dodgers will wake up soon.

“Our offense is inevitable,” said Freeman, smiling as though amused by the puzzle baseball has delivered Dodgers hitters to start a season in which they’re trying to three-peat as World Series champions.

“Hopefully, maybe tomorrow, with an off-day, the coldness will go away and we'll heat up.”

Despite struggling at the plate, the Dodgers are 4-2 to start the season, “so that's a good thing,” Roberts said.

And their pitchers have given up only 17 runs, with an ERA of 2.83 that ranks fourth best in baseball. “We’re pitching well,” Roberts added. “So that’s a really good thing.”

“But yeah,” he acknowledged. “It's obviously a very talented lineup, and right now, it just seems like a lot of guys are in-between.”

They’ve struck out 44 times and walked 17. They’ve scored only 23 runs — 19th among MLB’s 30 teams. And they’ve consistently been plagued by slow starts, digging themselves a too-familiar hole again by falling behind 2-0 for the fifth time in six games.

But this time, they couldn’t conjure up clutch hits to help them climb out of it — including not by Ohtani, who is three for 18 with seven walks and no extra-base hits.

After telling reporters Tuesday night he felt his swing was “a little off,” Ohtani took a rare on-field batting practice Wednesday — just as he had before his epic three-home run game that he also pitched and struck out 10 to close out last season’s NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Watching home runs fly through the fresh air didn’t prove an effective remedy this time, though.

After Ohtani’s first-inning walk — which extended his overall on-base streak to 37 games — the Dodgers’ sensational leadoff man went 0 for 3 at the plate, including being called out on a challenge that resulted in a double play in the sixth inning.

“I was a little surprised because he doesn't do that very often,” Roberts said. “I think he was looking for some feel, the flight of the baseball. Sometimes when he doesn't feel well, he likes to change up his routine and get on the field and see the flight. So, yeah, I was surprised.

“[And he] took a walk, but had a couple other tough at-bats.”

That was the story of the game — and of the season so far for the Dodgers.

The Guardians scored twice in the third inning on miscues by Yoshinobu Yamamoto and catcher Will Smith. Daniel Schneemann hit a leadoff double to right field, got a good jump, stole third base and then jogged home after Smith’s errant throw wound up in left field. Yamamoto then let Gabriel Arias get hold of a curveball for a 407-foot home run to straightaway center field.

But those were the only runs Cleveland scored against Yamamoto, whose start was historic because it made the Dodgers the first team in MLB history to start three consecutive Japanese-born pitchers. Yamamoto followed Roki Sasaki and Ohtani, who pitched Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

And in six innings, Yamamoto gave up four hits, struck out two, walked a batter and hit Angel Martínez.

Read more:C.B. Bucknor's week gets worse: Umpire leaves game with injury days after ABS and replay reversed his calls

Yamamoto (1-1) didn't have his typical pinpoint command, but he did enough, Roberts said. “He gave us six innings, gave up two runs, so obviously gave us a chance to win the game.”

But yet again, Yamamoto didn't get help from his friends. Ranking in the bottom five in run support last season, the Dodgers couldn’t drum up runs for their ace of aces, either.

Williams, conversely, was pin-prick sharp, confounding the Dodgers (4-2) with the exception of Pages, the Dodgers' No. 8 hitter, who finished 3-3 to improve to nine for 21 on this young season.

The Guardians (4-3) extended the lead to 4-0 in the eighth inning, when José Ramírez hit a two-run home run off Tanner Scott.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

A pitcher with such a glaringly high walk rate as Gavin Williams had last season and in his first start is someone who’s playing with fire—while that may eventually prove costly, one only gets to that point if they have the quality stuff to back it up, and that showed as the Guardians beat the Dodgers 4-1. The Guardians’ starting pitcher landed his four-seamer in the zone routinely enough to take full advantage of two outstanding breaking balls; his sweeper and curveball combined to induce 12 whiffs on 20 swings, and for seven innings, he imposed his will against this star-studded attack. Apart from Andy Pages, who seemed to have his number, Dodger hitters went 0 for 18 against Williams.

The Dodgers wouldn’t get an at-bat with a runner in scoring position until the sixth inning, the only frame in which they really challenged Williams. The bottom of the order put two on with no one out ahead of Shohei Ohtani. Only there was no room for even a bit of drama, as the reigning back-to-back NL MVP hit into a rally-killing double play and was subsequently followed by a lazy flyout from Kyle Tucker.

This deflating offensive display overshadowed and ultimately squandered a good performance from Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Robotic-esque is the term that comes to mind when watching Yamamoto, and it makes all the sense in the world that he would start the season in that manner. His fastball command wasn’t particularly great, only earning one called strike on the pitch, and that didn’t even stop him from delivering another ace-caliber performance. It wasn’t his fault; Williams was magnificent.

Yamamoto relied heavily on his cutter to left-handers and kept the Guardians at bay for his second quality start, allowing fewer than one base runner per inning. At the top of the third, Davis Schneeman hit a double and quickly came around to score after a throwing error from Will Smith as he tried to steal third. It wouldn’t have mattered much, considering the following hitter went deep as Gabriel Arias was waiting for a 3-1 ball and crushed it out to center. With a 35-degree launch angle, Arias made the most of this early start to be able to get it over the wall for a ball that maybe wouldn’t travel as much at night. Funny enough, facing a Chase DeLauter-less Guardians lineup, Yamamoto completely shut down the top five in their order. All of Cleveland’s four hits came from the bottom four in their lineup.

Before the Dodgers offense could get a crack at the Guardians bullpen to try and close this 2-0 deficit, Cleveland doubled their lead with their second two-run shot of the evening. Tanner Scott came in the game specifically to face José Ramírez and couldn’t put him away despite an 0-2 count, eventually coughing up a long ball down the left-field line. Repeating the scenario of the sixth inning, once again the Dodgers got a couple of men on ahead of Ohtani, but he was quickly dismissed by the left-hander Eric Sabrowski, striking out on three pitches. A solo shot from Freddie Freeman with two outs in the ninth simply helped the Dodgers avoid the shutout.

Wednesday particulars

Home runs: Gabriel Arias (1), José Ramírez (1) & Freddie Freeman (1)

WP — Gavin Williams (1-1): 6 IP, 1 hit, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts

LP — Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-1): 6 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Up next

The Dodgers hit the road for the first time in 2026, with their first stop in Washington for the Nationals’ home opener. It’ll be a very early start for the West Coasters, as these two teams meet up on Friday at 10:05 AM (PT). While the Dodgers have yet to announce their starter, if they follow this early-season schedule, it’ll be Emmet Sheehan taking the mound.

It’s Wednesday night here at BCB After Dark: the coolest club for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and sit with us. We’re all in a good mood this evening. Glad you could join us. There’s no cover charge. The dress code is casual. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

The Cubs beat the Angels today 6-2. The Cubs got a terrific pitching performance from Matthew Boyd. Nico Hoerner had three hits, including two doubles. Matt Shaw had two hits. I think we all hoped that the Cubs would be better than 3-3 at this point, but early season results are alway janky.

Speaking of Matt Shaw, yesterday evening I asked you when (or if) the team should trade Matt Shaw now that Nico Hoerner has signed an extension. The vote was pretty contentious, with 48 percent saying that Shaw should be gone by the Trade Deadline and 40 percent voting to keep him at least into next season. The rest thought that Shaw should be dealt this upcoming winter, although a potential lockout might complicate that. I didn’t mention that factor in my article.

Here’s the part where we listen to music and talk movies. You can skip ahead if you want.

Tonight we’re featuring vocalist José James on International Jazz Day in 2022. Tonight he’s signing the Bill Withers tune “Lovely Day.” Joining James is Helio Alves on piano, Brian Blade on drums, Grégoire Maret on harmonica (nice solo!), Pedrito Martinez on percussion and Mark Whitfield on bass.

I don’t have a movie to write about tonight, so I’ll just give you a few short capsules. I’ve been meaning to write about Eve’s Bayou (1997) for a while now, but with the start of the minor league season and other personal stuff I haven’t had the time. But to tide you over on that, I’ll just say that it was excellent. I hope to give it a full essay at a later date.

I also got a month of Netflix so I could see the Opening Day game (big mistake) so I’ve seen a few movies on that service that I hadn’t seen. If you didn’t tell me that A House of Dynamite (2025) was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, I would have been able to guess it immediately anyway. Her documentary-style approach is hit-and-miss with me, but here it’s mostly a hit. The script by Noah Oppenheim is also tense and, from what I’ve read from national security experts, about 95 percent accurate. That makes it all the more terrifying. I’d recommend it.

Blue Moon (2025) is mostly a acting showcase for director Richard Linklater’s longtime collaborator Ethan Hawke. Hawke is easily up for the challenge of playing Lorenz Hart on what was probably the worst night of his life, the day Oklahoma! debuted on Broadway. It’s certainly the kind of small and intimate film that they don’t make much anymore and I wish they would. Hawke deserved his Academy Award nomination for the film.

Finally, Hi, Nellie! (1934) is a Mervyn LeRoy pre-Code newspaper drama starring Paul Muni and Glenda Farrell. It’s fairly tame for pre-Code and the gimmick is that Muni’s character gets demoted to advice columnist on his newspaper for refusing to run with a corrupt machine’s attempt to slander an innocent man. So Muni has to write advice as Nellie and try to clear a man’s name to get his job back. Honestly, this one failed to keep my interest. The whole “has to be an advice columnist” thing struck me like someone being sentenced to be Jerry Seinfeld’s butler.

Feel free to share your thoughts on these films or any other ones you’ve seen recently.

Welcome back to anyone who skips the music and movies.

It’s extension season in MLB as teams rush to lock up players before we get too far into the year. As you know, the Cubs signed both Pete Crow-Armstrong and Nico Hoerner to long-term deals that will keep them in Cubbie blue until well into the 2030s. Since those years are imaginary, they might as well be lifetime deals.

Since Jed Hoyer has inked these two young stars, the natural question is “Who’s next?” Working off of this article by Tony Andracki, I’m giving you a chance to vote for which Cubs players that you would like to see given long-term deals.

The first two choices are the corner outfielders, Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki, both of whom can be free agents after this year. Both of them are very good players. I think if either one of them would sign a one-year deal, the Cubs should do it right now. The problem with extending either or both of them is that the Cubs are already pretty much locked in at third, second and short to the point where the Cubs have to consider trading second-year player Matt Shaw for lack of playing time. Were the Cubs to sign either Happ or Suzuki to an extension, that even more limits playing time for position players coming up through the Cubs system. It also locks the Cubs into an aging starting lineup. The Cubs have Kevin Alcántara, Kane Kepley, Ethan Conrad and Josiah Hartshorn at different levels of the system. I don’t think you can count on any of them being as good as Happ or Suzuki, but it’s certainly possible that one or more of them will be.

Michael Busch is a tough one because, as Andracki notes, he’s a Scott Boras client and Boras usually, but not always, advises players to hit the free agent market. Busch is also an unusual case in that he didn’t exhaust his rookie eligibility until he was 26 and can’t become a free agent until after the 2029 season. So while you can make a case that Busch is the best hitter on the Cubs, you can also say that the Cubs have him locked up over his best years and that there’s no current rush to extend him.

The other three candidates are pitchers with a few years of control left. One is Justin Steele. You all know that Steele missed almost all of last season with elbow surgery and probably still won’t rejoin the team until around Memorial Day. Steele’s injury might make him more eager to sign an extension. On the other hand, the Cubs might want to shy away from locking him up until they know that he has successfully bounced back from surgery. Steele can become a free agent after the 2027 season, so the Cubs will have to make a decision on him soon, but not now.

Cade Horton was a big bright spot in the Cubs rotation in his rookie season last year. He finished second in Rookie of the Year balloting and he certainly looked great in his first start this year. But Horton can’t become a free agent until after the 2031 season and he’s got an iffy injury history dating back to his college days at Oklahoma. Do the Cubs want to make a big commitment to Horton without knowing whether his arm can withstand the strain of 160 to 180 innings a year?

Finally there’s new Cub Edward Cabrera, who becomes a free agent after the 2028 season. Cabrera was simply outstanding in his Cubs debut and he’s been a popular pick to emerge into stardom this season. In such a case, it might be wise to lock up Cabrera now before his price goes way up.

On the other hand, Cabrera has a shaky injury history as well and has only been able to throw more than 100 innings once in his career. His career-high is only 137 innings, which came last year. Signing Cabrera to a long term extension is taking a big gamble that his arm holds up.

So now it’s time to vote. If we’ve done this correctly, you should be able to vote for more than one candidate.

Thank you for stopping by tonight. A special thanks goes out to everyone who voted and commented this past week. We hope you enjoyed yourself and will be back soon. Get home safely. Stay dry. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again next week for more BCB After Dark.

ST. LOUIS — Francisco Lindor’s 0-for-4 at the plate Wednesday was maybe the least of his problems.

The Mets shortstop committed a mental error defensively and was later picked off first base in an 11-inning, 2-1 loss to the Cardinals.

Lindor forgot the number of outs in the bottom of the first inning and began to jog off the field after stepping on second base for the force on Alec Burleson’s grounder.

But the force was only the second out, and by not throwing to first, Lindor missed an opportunity to complete an inning-ending double play.

Freddy Peralta escaped the inning by striking out Masyn Winn, throwing five additional pitches in the inning.

“I forgot the outs,” Lindor said. “I made a mistake that probably cost Peralta to go an extra inning and more pitches after that. Inexcusable.”

Lindor reached first base on an error in the sixth and was picked off, caught flat-footed, by Matthew Liberatore.

“They got us there,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He was going to go. We thought we had a tip there and they got us with a quick step-off move there. I wouldn’t consider that one as a mental mistake because he was trying to get some momentum there and being aggressive. But the first one [forgetting the outs] is the one that can’t happen.”

Mendoza said he didn’t need to address the issue with Lindor.

“He knows — he was pretty pissed when he came in,” Mendoza said. “Peralta did a hell of a job picking him up, finishing that inning. But you trust the decision-making with this guy. He knows he made a mistake.”

Peralta credited his changeup — a pitch he didn’t use as much last Thursday — for helping him get on track against the Brewers.

The right-hander allowed one earned run on three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts on this day, departing after 92 pitches.

“I have got a lot of trust with [the changeup] and I thought it was time to use it today,” Peralta said.

Juan Soto’s homer extended his on-base streak against the Cardinals to 41 games.

El Paso Chihuahuas

The El Paso Chihuahuas started their season the day after the San Diego Padres and have played four games, three against the Sacramento Salt River Cats and a first of six against the Tacoma Rainiers. They sit at 2-2 on the season with a win against each team.

Starter and rehabbing pitcher, Matt Waldron, pitched three innings in the debut game, allowing two hits and no runs with three strikeouts. His fastball has greater velocity this season, averaging 93 mph and his sinker is up to 92 mph. He is using a five-pitch mix, relying more heavily on his sinker than his four-seamer and using his knuckleball 27% of the time in his first start (stats per tjstats.ca)

He will be built up and the Padres will need to decide if he will be promoted to the major league club. The way things are currently going, it would make sense to give him an opportunity. He is out of options and can’t be kept in El Paso.

The Chihuahua rotation currently includes RHP Triston McKenzie (two innings pitched, two runs, four walks in his start), LHP Marco Gonzales (five innings pitched, six hits, three earned runs, two strikeouts, a walk and two hit-by-pitch in his start), LHP J.P. Sears (five innings pitched, two earned runs, a walk and two strikeouts in his start). After Waldron finishes his rehab another starter could take his place, presumably LHP Jackson Wolf. RHP Logan Gillaspie has been a relief role so far with the Chihuahuas. RHP Sean Boyle will make the start in the second game versus Tacoma, today.

Utility player Sung-Mun Song has made three starts for El Paso, playing second base and shortstop, going 1-for-5 with six strikeouts, a walk, a single and and three RBI in 17 at-bats. His OPS is .513 with a .235 average.

San Antonio Missions

The Missions play begins Thursday against the Tulsa Drillers in Tulsa, Okla. Their starting rotation highlights top prospect RHP Miguel Mendez with LHP Jagger Haynes, RHP Eric Yost, LHP Luis Gutierrez and RHP Victor Lizarraga filling out the five spots. Relievers Harry Gustin, Johan Moreno, Manuel Castro, Josh Mallitz and Ryan Och headline the bullpen.

Catcher Ethan Salas will be the primary catcher with Brandon Durfee the primary backup. First baseman Romeo Sanabria, a spring standout, will be joined by infielders Francis Acuńa, Ryan Jackson, Carson Tucker and Luis Verdugo. Wyatt Hoffman, son of Padres Hall of Famer, Trevor Hoffman, will be the utility man.

Outfielders Albert Fabian, Braedon Karpathios, Kai Murphy and Kai Roberts will be joined by returner Josh Mears, who retired last June with consistent injury issues. He is back to try again as a former top prospect.

Fort Wayne TinCaps

Fort Wayne begins its season on Friday against the Great Lakes Loons in Midland, Mich. LHP Kash Mayfield leads their rotation followed by RHP Kannon Kemp, LHP Jaxon Dalena, RHP Isaiah Lowe and RHP Carson Montgomery. The roster features RHP Maikel Miralles and LHP Igor Gil as other possible starters. The bullpen has Clark Candiotti, Clay Edmondson, Bernard Jose, Abraham Parra and Jeferson Villabona among others.

Catcher/1B Lamar King Jr. will be backed by Oswaldo Linares and Carlos Rodriguez. Infielders Jack Costello, Zach Evans, Dylan Grego, Jonathon Vastine and Rosman Verdugo are all playing with the Missions this season. Outfielders Jake Cunningham, Alex McCoy, Kavares Tears and Kasen Wells will fill out the roster.

Lake Elsinore Storm

Lake Elsinore begins its season Thursday, playing the Ontario TowerBuzzers in Ontario, Calif., a new team in the California League. LHP Kruz Schoolcraft will head up the rotation and will be joined by LHP Bryan Balzer, RHP Sean Barnett and a large group of starters and relievers drafted and/or signed in 2025. The roles are not currently defined on the roster.

The catchers will be Ty Harvey and Truitt Madonna, both drafted in 2025, along with Victor Duarte who also plays second base and played last season with Fort Wayne and Lake Elsinore. The infield will be manned by Luke Cantwell, Kerrington Cross, Justin DeCriscio, Bradley Frye, Jose Verdugo and Jorge Quintana.

Outfielders will be George Bilecki, Conner Westernburg, Ryan Wideman and Kale Fountain, who distinguished himself in the Spring Breakout game with a 455-foot home run.

There will be weekly minor league updates on the Gaslamp Ball site.

Orioles 8, Rangers 3

• That was exceedingly unpleasant.
• Do you want to think about this game? I don’t.
• It almost seems kind of appropriate that it ended on an ABS challenge. Just a blah.
• I don’t want to worry about Nathan Eovaldi. He had some bad luck in the opener, but this game was not bad luck.
• Carter Baumler pitched decently. That’s good.
• Josh Jung had two hits, having been hitless prior to that. That’s good.
• Corey Seager homered.
• I appreciate Corey Seager.
• But don’t think about the rangers.
• Think about Artemis II. Or Artemis Fowl.
• No, just Artemis II.
• Which makes me think of Audrey II. That was a plant though. Very different.
• Jack Nicholson played the dental patient in the original Little Shop of Horrors.
• Nathan Eovaldi hit 97.2 mph with his fastball. Tyler Alexander’s fastball reached 91.3 mph. Carter Baumler touched 95.9 mph with his fastball. Jacob Latz’s fastball maxed out at 95.0 mph.
• Jake Burger had a 104.8 mph ground out. Brandon Nimmo had a 104.1 mph double. Josh Jung had a 103.9 mph single and a 101.4 mph single. Corey Seager had a 101.8 mph home run.
• And now an off day. Both Rangers losses have been right before off days. Maybe they are sad they won’t be playing the next day and lose their mojo.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have created their own pitching factory of flame-throwing arms, making an impact in the majors. 

The team that drafted Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Tyler Glasnow, Clay Holmes, and others is ushering in a new wave of stars.

Paul Skenes leads the charge as the best pitcher in the National League, entering 2026 with his first Cy Young Award. 

Young pitchers Braxton Ashcraft and Carmen Mlodzinski began their careers in the bullpen but have the stuff and potential to be impactful MLB starters. 

None of them started the season the way Bubba Chandler did. In more ways than just one.

Baseball’s No. 11 prospect and the No. 2 player in the Pirates farm system, per MLB Pipeline, Chandler flashed his immense potential in front of 22,390 fans at Great American Ballpark on Tuesday.

The fifth and final starter on the Opening Day roster to take the ball for the Bucs, Chandler delivered 4.1 no-hit innings against the Cincinnati Reds. 

Chandler consistently flashed a 99-100 MPH fastball and kept Reds hitters off balance with his breaking pitches, including a 94 MPH changeup.

He allowed one unearned run in the third inning on a play that was initially ruled extra bases for former Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, but later changed to an error on Bryan Reynolds.

Reynolds and Oneil Cruz subtly collided in left-center field, resulting in neither player catching the fly ball, allowing Noelvi Marte to score.

That was the positive part of the outing for Chandler, who also struck out six Cincinnati hitters.

Chandler walked six Reds, including three in the third inning that resulted in Cincinnati posting its first tally of the game.  

He only walked four batters in 31.1 innings split between the rotation and bullpen last season, but walks were an issue in the minors.

Chandler walked 53 hitters over 100 innings at Triple-A Indianapolis, compared to 95 hits and 121 strikeouts in 2025.

A strong athlete who was recruited to Clemson as both a quarterback and a two-way baseball player, Chandler has immense talent and potential. It’s all about harnessing it.

Chandler registered an impressive double play off TJ Friedl, quickly turning like a shortstop or a quarterback completing a slant to pick off Jose Trevino at second base.

There’s no denying Bubba Chandler’s potential. In seven games (four starts) last season, the 6-foot-3 right-hander posted a 4.02 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, one save, and 31 punchouts over 31.1 innings.

Chandler is one of 10 early candidates for Rookie of the Year, alongside Konnor Griffin. He would become the second Pirate to win the award in the last three years after Skenes won it in 2024. 

The Pirates are depending on Chandler to improve his control and turn a top 10 prospect into a top 10 starter in the National League. The ceiling and potential are there for Chandler to become the Pirates’ No. 2 starter and pair a considerable 1-2 punch with Paul Skenes.

The two are lined up back-to-back this season after Chandler started on Tuesday and Skenes on Wednesday. Pittsburgh won both games… Both have elite arsenals… Imagine the possibilities.

Meltdowns of varying scale and on competing fronts for the San Francisco Giants, led to a rather ugly 7-1 loss to the Padres this afternoon. 

Hours after the offense blossomed into a 16-hit, 9-run evening, manager Tony Vitello tried to run the good-vibes back, and…the batting order withered in the harsh light of the noon sun. 

The team’s first failure.

The hit total from Tuesday was halved, then halved again. Just a two-out RBI single from Harrison Bader in the 7th saved the Giants from their third shutout in six games. 

Up and down the line-up, San Francisco struggled to lay off high fastballs from Padre pitching. Starter Nick Pivetta, then reliever Jeremiah Estrada, then Mason Miller all pounded the top of the zone and had hitters at their mercy. Bats chased the tails of four-seams to ridiculous heights. Higher and higher their hacks went. There was no ladder they wouldn’t climb.

Pivetta surrendered just a single hit and two walks while striking out 8 over five innings. San Francisco’s only scoring threat came in the 2nd before the right-hander settled-in in the 3rd. Nasty breaking pitches broke down Casey Schmitt and Willy Adames before he finally fanned Rafael Devers on a 95 MPH letter-high fastball. He’d ultimately strike out 5 in a row from the 2nd to the 4th innings. 

The straight fastball is Pivetta’s meal ticket. It really doesn’t look all that special from the couch cushion, especially in terms of velocity. The secret is it just stays up. He shows the pitch to hitters right out of his high release point. They know what’s coming, their eyes get big when they see it out of his hand, and they swing their bats around, bracing for a collision of epic proportion — and it doesn’t happen. The ball boasts that mysterious and confounding rise. Pivetta rode that rise to a 24 Fastball Run Value, good for the 99th percentile in the league in 2025.    

Based on some of the chase he coaxed from Giants bats this afternoon, Pivetta’s pitch is just as enticing as it was last season. Pair it with a snapping curve/slider, and we got the makings of a frustrating day at the plate. 

About the only thing the Giants hitters did was make Pivetta work. They chased him from the hill after the 5th inning — but their fastball issues didn’t go away with him out of the picture. Jeremiah Estrada took over and went right back to punching four-seamers. Higher and higher he’d go up in the zone, and still Adames and Ramos followed. Mason Miller took the mound and cruised triple-digit missiles, chased by a whiplash slider. A brutal 1-2 combo claimed Matt Chapman, Jung Hoo Lee, and Bader to end the 9th.

The next collapse came on the other side of the baseball with two costly infield errors behind starter Adrian Houser. Both miscues came on eerily similar plays that led to San Diego’s first two runs of the day. 

With two outs in the 1st and Jackson Merrill on first, Manny Machado rolled a grounder towards Matt Chapman at third. Typically, a no-go zone for grounders. The inning was all but over, but considering how deep he was playing, Chapman had to charge hard, field the ball, and throw over to first on the run. Again, this is not a real concern as we’ve seen this done countless times before. But first baseman Schmitt, in stretching for the ball, missed it entirely. The ball ricocheted off Macado’s stomach into shallow right field, allowing Merrill, who was running on the play and never stopped, to score from first.

By definition, a dumb run. A real dud. And yet that dud, only foreshadowed more to come.  

Fast-forward to the 5th. Two outs, runners at the corners, and another impossibly frustratingly slow ball rolled off the bat of a Padre. Forced to charge in, forced to his left, Chapman once again sent another hurried, off-balance throw across the diamond, and once again, Schmitt couldn’t quite wrangle it, allowing San Diego to double their lead with another dumb run. 

That’s one dumb run too many, and the goofed catch earned Schmitt some free and very blunt advice from Chapman when they met on the mound soon after.    

Obviously both balls in play should’ve led to outs. While the errors were equitably split between the two involved, Schmitt’s inexperience showed. A more seasoned receiver jumps off the bag and tries for the tag on the first throw. On the second, he stays more upright, knowing that an exaggerated stretch exposes more than aids. And then there’s that fundamental truth that if you can get leather on the ball, you should catch it. Schmitt, as a true infielder, has built his whole life around that rule. And while he’s relatively new to the position, he is experienced at catching baseballs, and certainly knows the basic tenet of manning a base: ball, then bag. That being said, Chapman has made better throws, and Schmitt was certainly getting jerked around a bit. The first throw appeared to be spinning up the first base line, taking him uncomfortably close to the oncoming runner. The second was thrown from closer range and kept rising like a Pivetta four-seamer. But those excuses wouldn’t fly with Schmitt if he was the one playing third making that throw across the diamond. A first baseman, as the Ringo of the infield, is there to hold up and support the genius of the others. Managing the skips, short-hops, risers, and palm balls — that’s just part of the first base gig.  

While those glove gaffes set the tone in the series finale, the game wasn’t completely out of reach, or obliterated beyond redemption, until José Buttó took over the 8th and delivered the coup de grâce.

The reliever’s first pitch ended up short-hopping the wall for a lead-off double by Machado. His second found an open seat beyond the left field wall. Ramon Laureano’s 2-run double put San Diego up 5-1 and seemed to shake Buttó to his core. He threw seven straight balls, walking the next two batters. Just when an offering in the zone seemed to be an impossibility, he struck out Freddy Fermin…before walking the bases loaded on four straight balls to Bryce Johnson. San Diego would add two more, extending their lead to the final 7-1, on an infield single and subsequent four-pitch walk.  

Buttó surrendered four runs on three hits and four walks. Of the 28 pitches he threw before he was mercifully removed, Buttó recorded just five strikes (not including the 3 hits surrendered). It got to the point where the only explanation for such a derailment was an injury, and under this pretense he was mercifully removed. Ryan Borucki took over and needed three pitches to induce an inning-ending double-play. 

While a lot of players will be leaving San Diego with their tail between their legs, there were some positives. Overall, a series win is a series win. Two out of three in San Diego is fine by me. 

Luis Arraez, hitting clean-up, collected three of the team’s four hits and scored their only run. Harrison Bader came up with a face-saving, two-out RBI.

Adrian Houser, in his Giants debut, was probably kept in one or two batters too long in the 6th, nor did he get much support around him, but he threw well. He pitched to contact with a sinker-change-up interplay similar to Webb’s, and on a better day more representative of the infield’s abilities, he’ll be rewarded for eliciting those ground balls. 

Speaking of which, while Chapman and Schmitt struggled to connect, Chapman and fellow Gold Glover Patrick Bailey had no trouble teaming up for a couple of slick, run-saving putouts.

At least someone can catch the f***ing ball.     

As a wise giant once said: “it is happening again.” For the sixth time in seven seasons the Mariners carry a 3-4 record after their first seven games. This simply isn’t a roster that gets off to a hot start. And for reasons ranging from the sensible to the silly, that’s basically fine.

For one: it’s cold in Seattle! I probably don’t need to tell you this dear reader but the temperature at first pitch was 47 degrees! Fine for football weather but downright miserable for baseball. It’s so cold that Luke Raley’s bat is deciding that it does not want to be a baseball bat anymore in the cover image.

That cold tends to favor pitchers, so it is perhaps no surprise that today’s contest was a pitcher’s duel for the first five innings. Mariners starter George Kirby allowed a first inning run off a walk, stolen base, and ground ball double up the first base line, but was absolutely dominant for much of the rest of his outing. He rolled through the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings while only allowing two baserunners.

Unfortunately, so did Yankees starter Cam Schlitter whose fastball was absolutely unhittable. Watching the game, it seemed like Raley wasn’t the only player missing a barrel on his bat. Everyone, from superstar Cal Raleigh to little Leo Rivas was swinging through the heater.

Kirby’s dominance game to an end in the sixth inning, which he started with an uncharacteristic leadoff walk. After getting that fraud Aaron Judge — who probably doesn’t even own a robe — to pop out, he struck out Cody Bellinger and seemed poised to hang another zero on the scoreboard. But he couldn’t get his changeup up in the zone against Ben Rice and issued another free pass. And then he grooved a middle-middle heater to Paul Goldschmidt. Oh no.

In an instant, a very winnable 1-run ballgame became an almost-out-of-reach 4-run ballgame. Drat. The Mariners were a grand slam behind the Yanks. Surely there is no coming back from that.

The Mariners brought in Jose Ferrer and Cooper Criswell to relieve George, and they got through the 7th and 8th innings without allowing a run. In the bottom of the eighth, Dominic Canzone and Cole Young hit back to back 1-out singles to put runners on the corners. Leo Rivas struck out reaching for an awful pitch that bounced on home plate for the second out in the inning. Brendan Donovan then took the easiest 4-pitch walk of his life to load the bases. That brought up the number two hitter. Who was that again? Oh right.

Cal Raleigh stood in the batter’s box with three men on and two outs in the inning. The moment was perfect for the 2025 home run champ to get his first of 2026. The city of Seattle held its breath. On a 2-1 count, Yankees reliever Dave Bednar tried to bury a splitter below the zone. But he missed up, a dangerous thing to do against a hitter who loves to send low and away breaking pitches to the moon. Cal swung and made contact with his signature one-handed follow through.

And hit a 2-run single. Not a grand slam, but runs are runs and the M’s were finally on the board. Things were looking up. Right up until Julio struck out on a splitter right down the middle. Oh you thought the M’s had a chance? April Fools!

To add insult to injury the Yanks got a run back in the ninth off of a leadoff home run by Ben Rice. That left the M’s with a 3 run deficit heading into the bottom of the ninth inning. Much work to be done. And some of it was! With two outs, Dominic Canzone scored Randy Arozarena from second and advanced to scoring position himself on defensive indifference. That brought up Cole Young to decide the game. Cole fought and scratched and clawed for his life and ground out a nerve-racking 10-pitch at bat. Finally, he got a fastball down the middle and sent it on a good ride towards right field… it flew high up into the roof-covered sky… and settled into Aaron Judge’s glove just in front of the warning track. April Fools!

To play the maybe game for a moment, maybe in August, when its a little warmer and Cole’s a little stronger, that ball gets over the wall. Maybe Cal hits a slam instead of a single. Maybe a lot of things. But here’s a fact. The season is still so, so, so young. There are still 155 games remaining. Last year the Mariners got off to an equally mediocre start and the won the division, in case you forgot. So here’s my fact: you’d be a fool to count them out now.

PHOENIX — Ok, maybe the entire town of Kingman, Arizona, wasn’t on hand Wednesday afternoon to see their hometown hero, but that lower section down right field, toward the concourse at Chase Field, certainly made their presence known loud and clear.

They watched their famous Kingman native mow down the Arizona Diamondbacks, but only this time, the two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal didn’t get his Detroit Tigers teammates to cooperate.

Skubal, despite giving up just one run and six hits in seven dominant innings, lost 1-0 to the Diamondbacks. It was the first time he lost a 1-0 game since May 31 last season against the Kansas City Royals when he also gave up one run in seven innings.

Skubal gave up a home run to Corbin Carroll on his ninth pitch of the game, and allowed only one runner to reach second base after the third inning on shortstop Javier Baez’s error. He threw 60 of his 87 pitches for strikes, but took no solace in his latest dominant performance, with the Tigers having scored in just four of their last 49 innings.

“Obviously, it doesn’t really matter,’’ said Skubal, 1-1 with a 0.69 ERA, vying to join Hall of Famers Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson to win three consecutive Cy Young awards. “We lost. The goal of every game that I’m pitching, I want to win. It doesn’t really matter how it happens.

“Individually, fine, but it’s a team game. And we need to win. So it doesn’t really matter how I felt because it comes in a loss.’’

The Kannapolis Cannon Ballers should be one of the more intriguing stops in the system this season. Not necessarily because they’re built to dominate the Carolina League, but because of what they represent. This is what the early stages of a rebuild actually look like.

A roster packed with teenagers, recent draftees, and projection players isn’t going to overwhelm anyone out of the gate. But if things go right, Kannapolis could be where the foundation quietly starts to take shape. It will be less about wins and losses, and more about whether the organization can build anything resembling a functional pipeline again.

The Ballers will have a fresh face guiding that process in Jayson Nix, who takes over for Chad Pinder after Pinder’s rapid ascent to Triple-A Charlotte. Nix brings a blend of big-league and recent coaching experience, having spent time on the Los Angeles Angels’ staff under Ron Washington.

For a roster this young, that experience matters. Development here isn’t just mechanical; it’s about teaching players how to handle failure, adjust, and survive a grind they’ve never experienced before.

Last year’s 64–68 finish certainly doesn’t jump off the page, but the way Kannapolis got there does. They hovered around .500 most of the season before catching fire late, winning 11 of their final 14 games and at least making things interesting down the stretch.

More importantly, the Ballers did what they were supposed to do: develop players. Names like Braden Montgomery and Caleb Bonemer moved up the ranks, and that’s the real currency at this level.

This season, three of Chicago’s top-30 prospects (per MLB Pipeline) are set to open 2026 in Kannapolis. Let’s break down that trio, along with a few other names worth keeping tabs on.

The kids are (very) young

This year’s position-player group leans heavily into projection, which is supposed to be a theme across the White Sox system under GM Chris Getz.

Billy Carlson (MLB No. 70, White Sox No. 5)

Carlson is a good place to start. The righty hitter brings a clean swing, but the real story is the glove. With elite defensive grades already, Carlson looks like he could stick on the left side of the infield long-term, and the arm strength backs it up in a big way. If the bat comes through even a little, that’s something.

Jaden Fauske (White Sox No. 7)

Fauske offers a different flavor. A lefty bat with line-drive tendencies and real speed, he’s the type of player who can impact the game without needing to leave the yard. The power may come later, but for now, it’s about getting on base, creating chaos, and covering serious ground in the outfield.

Javier Mogollón (White Sox No. 13)

Then there’s Mogollón, who enters something of a prove-it year. His first full season in 2025 was, to put it bluntly, rough. There were small wins, namely improved plate discipline, but much of his offensive profile took a step back. At 20, there’s still time, but this is where adjustments need to start turning into results.

Other names like Marcelo Alcala, Rylan Galvan, and Stiven Flores round out a group that’s long on tools and short on certainty, which is kind of the point in Low-A.

Arms to watch

On the pitching side, the Ballers won’t overpower opponents, but there’s a bit of intrigue.

Riley Eikhoff

Eikhoff fits the “could be more than the sum of his parts” mold. A compact righty with a knack for generating ground balls, he’s the type who could quietly carve out a role if things click.

Blaine Wynk

Wynk might be the biggest wild card. An eighth-round pick with a fastball that can reach 97 mph, his development hinges on health after a shoulder issue limited his college time. If he’s right, there’s real upside here, and maybe he ends up as a draft-day steal for the Sox.

Daniel Wright

Wright is hard to miss at 6´9´´. His fastball/cutter mix gives him a chance to stick as bullpen depth, even if the track record is more “solid” than “spectacular.” In a system that needs arms, that alone makes him worth watching.

So, no, this team probably isn’t built to run away with anything. But if a few bats pop, a couple of arms stabilize, and the product looks sharper by August, that’s a win. Because in a rebuild like this, Kannapolis isn’t about the standings. It’s about whether anything here looks and feels real.

The Ballers open the season at home on April 2 against the Hill City Howlers (Cleveland’s Low-A affiliate), kicking off what should be a telling first look at this next wave of Chicago’s youngsters.