Category: Baseball

The Twins started off the week by extending the Mets’ losing streak to 12 games, but that’s where the good news ended, as they started their own streak, losing five straight games before righting the ship against Seattle last night. They are only three games below .500 and still sit third in the Central division, only 2.0 games behind the first-place Detroit Tigers, so it’s still technically anyone’s game. However, there was a bright spot as we saw rookies Connor Prielipp and Kendry Rojas make their debuts, and Prielipp shone last night against Seattle. Hopefully this injection of youth is a sign of things to come for the 2026 Twins.

The Past Week on Twinkie Town:

• Check out The Feed, where you can add your discussions about the Twins!
• We’re starting a new segment called Daily Questions! Provide your opinion on the Twins and debate with the community!
• Game threads and recaps are back! Commiserate with your fellow fans as we experience the season together.
• Zach Koenig looks at the financial disparity between teams in the major leagues.

Elsewhere in Twins Territory:

• Dan Hayes at The Athletic tries to see if there’s more than just a silver lining for the Twins amidst the recent losing streak.
• Theo Tollefson at Zone Coverage writes about the new mural at Target Field – and the artist behind it.
• Matthew Leach at MLB.com checks in on the Twins’ top picks from 2025, Marek Houston and Riley Quick.

In the World of Baseball:

• Quite a lot has shifted in the American League in the last week, as there are more teams (12) that are within 4.0 games of the worst team in the league (the Houston Astros) than those closer than 4.0 games (3) of the best team in the league, the Yankees. The Rays benefited from a weekend sweep of the Twins to climb into second place in the race for the pennant, while the Athletics continue to lead the AL West and the Tigers hold a slim 0.5 game margin over the Guardians in the AL Central.
• Atlanta and Los Angeles sit atop the National League, where there’s slightly more parity, with half of the league within 4.0 games of the leaders. The Mets and Phillies both stopped their losing streaks. Meanwhile, the upstart Reds currently hold the NL Central crown.
• The 2024 No. 1 overall draft pick, Travis Bazzana, is getting the call-up to the majors for the Guardians.
• Munetaka Murakami had a week to remember, as the White Sox rookie slugger hit a homer in five straight games.
• Ben Clemens at Fangraphs looks at how the strike zone has changed in 2026 with ABS.
• Old friend Craig Breslow cleaned house last weekend, firing manager Alex Cora, along with five other coaches. The ESPN baseball writers discuss this move and why Breslow decided to make it.

Rob Thomson rescued a flailing Philadelphia Phillies team in 2022, taking over for the fired Joe Girardi and leading the underachieving club to a World Series berth.

Now, the Phillies are hoping getting rid of Thomson is the cure for what ails this year's disappointing club.

The Phillies fired Thomson on Tuesday, April 28 after a 9-19 start that mired the $284 million roster in last place in the National League East. That caps a nearly four-year run for Thomson, a span in which the club made the playoffs every season yet backtracked from pennant winner to NLCS loser to first-round exits the past two seasons.

Don Mattingly, the former Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers manager, was named the Phillies' interim skipper for the remainder of the 2026 season.

Thomson, 62, had a 355-270 record at the helm of the Phillies, taking over after Girardi was fired following a 22-29 start to the 2022 season. Yet after an NLDS exit at the hands of the champion Los Angeles Dodgers in 2025, president Dave Dombrowski made few changes to a lefty-heavy lineup that has scuffled in this opening month of the season.

And the pitching staff has been waylaid by poor performances from the since-released Taijuan Walker (9.13 ERA), Jesus Luzardo (6.91) and $172 million man Aaron Nola (6.03).

Thomson is the second manager fired in four days, joining Boston's Alex Cora. Cora – who along with Dombrowski led the Red Sox to the 2018 World Series title – was thought to potentially be a candidate to immediately replace Thomson.

The Phillies offered the job to Cora before promoting Mattingly, but the former Red Sox manager declined the opportunity in order to spend more time with family, two officials with knowledge of the team’s talks told USA TODAY Sports’ Bob Nightengale. 

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the process.

Thomson began his Phillies career with seven consecutive victories, and the club rallied for 87 wins and a wild-card berth before toppling the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres in the NL playoffs to reach their first World Series since 2009. They held a 2-1 lead over the Houston Astros but lost the last four games of the Series.

Still, the feeling that a potential dynasty was brewing was reinforced by a 90-win campaign and playoff conquests of the Marlins and Braves in 2023, as Citizens Bank Park became a playoff fortress for the club.

Yet blowing a 3-2 lead to the Arizona Diamondbacks – losing both games at the Bank – in the 2023 NLCS began an October regression the Phillies did not count on. They captured the NL East with 94 wins in 2024, but were upset by the New York Mets in the NLDS. They made it back-to-back titles in 2025, winning 96 games, but got a tough draw in the defending champion Dodgers, losing a heartbreaking four-game NLDS.

All the while, the collection of superstars with nine-figure contracts went through various stages of regression. The club swallowed the final year of Nick Castellanos' $100 million deal after poor performance and insubordination in 2025. Nola was injured and largely ineffective after he was retained on a $172 million deal. Ace Zack Wheeler had surgery to repair thoracic outlet syndrome just six weeks before last year's playoffs.

And beyond superstar sluggers Kyle Schwarber (.864 OPS, nine homers) and Bryce Harper (.845, six), the Phillies' lineup drops off dramatically; they rank 29th in the major leagues with a .656 OPS.

Can Mattingly cure those ailments? If he can channel the 2022 version of Rob Thomson, perhaps.

At the least, the Phillies determined the 2026 version of Thomson was no longer getting through.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Phillies manager Rob Thomson fired: Can team turn around 2026 standings?

Did we want Didier Fuentes back in Atlanta? I wanted him back and taking a rotation spot. Of course, the whole “must stay down after being optioned unless recalled due to injury” rule put a minor spanner in that particular set of works… until the Braves apparently found a way around it through the miracle of life:

This move does create some short-term implications. Lee has started off very well for the Braves, with a 34 ERA-, 39 FIP-, 82 xFIP-, and five shutdowns to two meltdowns, with one of the meltdowns having nothing to do with him (Eli White’s misadventures, 2026 edition). He already has 0.4 fWAR in 13 innings after finishing 2025 with 0.3 fWAR in total. With his temporary absence, the Braves only have Aaron Bummer (much, much worse in the early going than his prior Braves tenure) and Jose Suarez (enigmatic to say the least) from the left side. Martin Perez could theoretically fulfill that role, but unless Fuentes is taking his starting spot tonight, that won’t matter for this series.

Fuentes returns for this third stint in about four weeks of play. He made the Opening Day roster and had a nice four-inning relief appearance against the Royals before going back to Triple-A. He was recalled last week and had a pretty wild start against the Nationals, with a 7/1 K/BB ratio and a homer allowed, but four runs charged to him in three innings of work. Maybe the Braves throw him in there against the Tigers with Perez held back, or maybe it’ll be the reverse — or maybe he’s just added length while Dylan Lee spends some time with his expanding family. Anyway, stay tuned.

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The Athletics have been very kind to Over backers when playing at home, clearing the total all but once while averaging more than 12 combined runs.

My Royals vs. Athletics predictions see another high-scoring game in the cards on Tuesday night.

Let’s take a closer look at my daily MLB picks for April 28.

Who will win Royals vs A's today: Royals moneyline (-120)

The Athletics will skip Jorge Lopez’s spot in the rotation, instead handing the ball to Aaron Civale.

Civale owns a 4.38 SIERA, 4.51 xFIP, and 13.4% soft contact rate, indicating his 3.86 ERA is a little generous for how he has pitched.

The Kansas City Royals rank fifth in walk rate, eighth in hard hit rate, and ninth in batting average against righties this month. They’re well equipped to exploit an underwhelming arm like Civale — especially with star Bobby Witt Jr. now playing up to expectations.

Expect Kansas City’s offense to power them to victory.

COVERS INTEL: Civale has allowed homers on 8.1% of fly balls this year, well below his career average of 12.6%. It's unlikely to hold given his 2026 hard contact rate of 49% is a career-worst.

Royals vs A's Over/Under pick: Over 9.5 (-105)

Kansas City’s offense has a favorable matchup and the run environment only adds to it. Sutter Health Park is hitter-friendly and warm weather is expected, with the temperature in the 70s.

While the Athletics are much better against right-handed pitching, Kris Bubic owns a low soft contact rate and gives up a lot of fly balls. That’s a recipe for danger against an Athletics team sitting 11th in SLG.

Even if Bubic holds up early, Kansas City’s bullpen sits 27th in xFIP this month. That gives the Athletics a real path to run generation.

Royals vs A's odds

• Moneyline: Royals -120 | A's +100
• Run line: Royals -1.5 | A's +1.5
• Over/Under: Over 9.5 | Under 9.5

Royals vs A's trend

The Athletics have hit the Over in 10 of their last 11 games at home (+8.85 Units / 72% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Royals vs. A's.

How to watch Royals vs A's and game info

Royals vs A's latest injuries

Royals vs A's 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.

Seeking a boost for their struggling offense, the Cleveland Guardians are set to promote 2024 No. 1 overall draft pick Travis Bazzana for Tuesday's home game against the Tampa Bay Rays, according to multiple media reports.

Bazzana, a second baseman from Australia, was the top selection after a stellar college career at Oregon State. During his three seasons in the minor leagues, he's posted an elite .391 on-base percentage with 14 home runs and 25 stolen bases in 135 games. That should make him a significant upgrade over incumbent second baseman Juan Brito, who has posted a .176/.250/.255 slash line in 15 games.

The Guardians (15-15) begin play on April 28 just a half game behind the first-place Detroit Tigers in the American League Central Division. However, they're averaging just 4.0 runs per game – which ranks 25th out of the 30 MLB teams.

With an already-loaded rookie class this year, Bazzana might be part of the next wave of prospects getting the call to the majors.

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Tanner Bibee and the Cleveland Guardians look to bounce back from a 3-2 defeat when they host Nick Martinez and the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 2 of their three-game series.

Bibee has been dealing, and my Rays vs. Guardians predictions expect Cleveland to even the series. 

Read on for my MLB picks for Tuesday, April 28. 

Who will win Rays vs Guardians today: Guardians (-130)

Tanner Bibee has allowed just two earned runs over his last 12 innings and is pitching his way back into form. 

The Cleveland Guardians bullpen ranks 16th in baseball with a 3.88 xERA, giving them a more reliable bridge in the back end. 

Tampa Bay Rays starter Nick Martinez is dealing, but he carries a 4.67 xERA with a 10th percentile whiff rate, meaning his strong ERA is living on borrowed time. 

Neither pen is an absolute, but Cleveland's is clearly the lesser evil. Back the Guardians to bounce back at home.

COVERS INTEL:Martinez boasts a 2.10 ERA, but his 4.65 xERA and 4.47 xFIP suggest his stats are a mirage. 

Rays vs Guardians Over/Under pick: Over 7.5 (+102)

We should see some offense tonight at Progressive Field.

Bibee has surrendered five home runs in 30 innings this season, and Tampa's contact-heavy lineup strikes out the least of any team in baseball, meaning balls will be in play all night. 

Martinez has a 17.5% whiff rate and a 4.67 xERA, suggesting runs are coming his way, too. 

Tampa's bullpen also cannot be trusted, as it ranks 28th in baseball with a 5.44 xERA.

Rays vs Guardians odds

• Moneyline: Rays +122 | Guardians -127
• Run line: Rays +1.5 (-170) | Guardians -1.5 (+163)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-100) | Under 7.5 (-104)

Rays vs Guardians trend

Cleveland has beaten Tampa Bay in seven of their previous 10 meetings. Find more MLB betting trends for Rays vs. Guardians.

How to watch Rays vs Guardians and game info

Rays vs Guardians latest injuries

Rays vs Guardians 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.

A Dodgers minor leaguer has won a weekly award in each of the first four weeks of the 2026 season. The latest honoree is Double-A Tulsa pitcher Patrick Copen, who on Monday captured Texas League pitcher of the week honors for the week of April 20-26.

The 6’6 right-hander struck out nine in 6 1/3 innings last Thursday night on the road against the Frisco Rough Riders, allowing only one single and three walks.

It was the third scoreless outing in four starts this season from Copen, who made 17 starts for Tulsa last season before starting this year repeating Double-A. He led all Dodgers minor leaguers in 2025 with 152 strikeouts, and this year he leads as well with 31 strikeouts in the early going.

Copen on the season has a 1.23 ERA in his four starts, with 31 strikeouts and 12 walks in his 22 innings. His strikeout rate is up (35.6 percent, after 23.1 percent for the Drillers in 2025) and his walk rate is down (from 16 percent to 13.8 percent).

This is the second career minor league award for Copen, who was the Midwest League pitcher of the month in May 2025 while with High-A Great Lakes, shortly before his promotion to Tulsa.

Copen is the second straight Tulsa hurler to win Texas League pitcher of the week, after left-hander Luke Fox for the week of April 13-19. Other Dodgers minor leaguers to win weekly awards this season are Triple-A Oklahoma City first baseman/outfielder James Tibbs III for March 30-April 5 and Class-A Ontario pitcher Marlon Nieves for the week of April 6-12.

Morning A’s fans.

Yesterday’s off day allowed the Athletics to travel back home to Sacramento and prepare for their next series, a three-game matchup against the Kansas City Royals. This’ll be the first time these two teams face each other this year. Kansas City is off to a slow start at just 11-17 so far in the early going. That puts them last in the AL Central, even behind the Chicago White Sox. Not a great place to be if you’re KC, though they didn’t exactly enter this season as obvious Wild Card contenders, never mind the division.

While the Royals have announced their starters schedule for the series, the A’s have yet to make any official assignments for their starting pitchers for this series. That said, we can expect to see some combination of Luis Severino, Aaron Civale, and Jacob Lopez in this series. Severino is coming off a quality start last time out when he stiffled the Texas Rangers’ offense for six+ innings of work, allowing just one run his last time out. That’s more of the production that the team was hoping for from their veteran starter. If the team doesn’t alter their rotation order, Sevy would line up to get the ball in the series finale.

We know that Civale won’t be getting bumped from the rotation anytime soon thanks to his quality start to his season, but as for Lopez he might not have quite as long a leash. The left-hander is coming off a solid start where he pitched into the sixth inning in Texas but he’s still got an ERA close to 6. With other options waiting in the wings in Triple-A Lopez needs to string together a few quality starts if he wants to resolidify his place in the rotation. He currently lines up to get the ball this evening to kick off the series, but the fact that the team hasn’t announced its scheduled starters for this series could be a sign that the coaching staff is considering making a change in the backend of the rotation. We’ll see who gets the ball this evening. Whoever gets the call will be going up against KC lefty Kris Bubic.

First pitch is at 6:40 this evening. Have a great Tuesday, guys.

A’s Coverage:

• A’s bullpen shines in series finale against Rangers
• Kurtz ‘starting to get back to himself’ — and that’s a scary prospect
• Denzel Clarke placed on IL with bone bruise in foot; OF Thomas recalled
• Athletics take down Mariners 5-2
• It Might Be Time For Some Crosby Love
• Lawrence Butler’s Rough Start Comes With a Big Asterisk
• Lawrence Butler Says He Wants Mariners Fans to “Go Home Sad”
• A’s roster moves: Basso recalled, Barnett optioned
• Do-Overs For (Almost) Everyone In The AL West
• Today Is A Day Of Special Meaning — For More Than One Reason
• A’s Top Pitching Prospects Are Dominating to Start 2026
• A’s top prospect Leo De Vries pops his first two homers of the season at Double-A
• Armchair 101: The Challenge Of Judging Decisions In Real Time
• AN Exclusive: Blogfather Observes The Wild Denzelope In Its Natural Habitat
• AN Exclusive: Blogfather Toes The Rubber With Pitching Coach Scott Emerson
• AN Exclusive: Blogfather Catches Up With Starting Pitcher Jacob Lopez

MLB News and Interest:

• With a little drama, Miller’s scoreless streak ends at 34 2/3 innings
• Yankees To Place Giancarlo Stanton On Injured List
• Blue Jays Place Max Scherzer On Injured List
• Guards calling up Aussie Bazzana, No. 1 overall Draft pick from 2024 (source)
• Dodgers call Diaz’s injury ‘best case scenario’
• Rice catches Judge, Judge says ‘Not so fast’ as duo make HR history
• Can Chase Dollander Defeat Coors Field?
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Definitely worth a listen:

Arnold is looking like the real deal:

A couple less-than-stellar health updates on a pair of pitching prospects:

A fun read for your Tuesday morning:

ICYMI:

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

Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers (12-14, 5.5 games back)

It was a rough week for the Storm Chasers; they lost 5 of their 6 games against the Toledo Mud Hens. After winning the first game of the series, 10-5, they lost the next five contests.

Kameron Misner had another powerful week, going 3-for-19 at the plate, with two more homers. John Rave also blasted two more homers. Drew Waters had the best week at the plate, going 7-for-22 with a homer and a pair of doubles.

On the hill, Bailey Falter threw 4.1 innings, giving up 3 hits, 1 run, while striking out 6 batters. Stephen Kolek made another rehab start, he went 3.2 innings, allowing 4 hits, 2 runs, walking 2 and striking out 4. Eric Cerantola threw another scoreless inning and a third, while Steven Cruz also threw 2 scoreless innings.

Omaha returns home for a series against the Louisville Bats, the series runs from Tuesday to Sunday.

Northwest Arkansas Naturals (10-11, 4 games back)

The Naturals split a six game series against the Wichita Wind Surge. Every game was tightly contested, including a Sunday doubleheader to wrap up the series.

Jorge Alfaro was 4-for-11 at the plate, with a homer and a double. Carson Roccaforte was 5-for-22 with a double and a homer. Brett Squires was for-8-24 with 5 doubles, a homer and 7 runs batted in. The Naturals hit a pair of walk offs as well; Daniel Vazquez hit a walk-off two run single in the 10th inning to win a game 13-12. Rudy Martin Jr. hit a walk off homer in game one of the Sunday doubleheader.

On the hill, Henry Williams made two starts, totaling in 10 innings pitched, 4 hits, 1 run allowed, walking 5 and striking out 8. Drew Beam had his best AA start of his career, going 4.1 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 run, walking 1 and striking out 6. Frank Mozzicato struggled badly in his one start, going just 1.2 innings, giving up 6 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks. Dennis Colleran, who had some Spring Training hype surrounding him and his high velocity continued his season long struggle, giving up 5 runs in a third of an inning over two appearances.

The Naturals remain at home for a series against the Springfield Cardinals, the series runs from Tuesday to Sunday.

Quad Cities River Bandits (10-8 2.5 games back)

The Quad Cities River Bandits took four of six in their series against the Lansing Lugnuts. At the plate, Blake Mitchell was 2-12 at the plate with a homer. Ramon Ramirez was 5-24 with a homer, two doubles and seven runs batted in. Austin Charles was 9-for-25 with three doubles, and five runs batted in. Derlin Figueroa was 4-for-18 with a double.

On the hill, David Shields went 5 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 run, walking 3 and striking out 6 in his one start of the week. Hunter Alberini threw 2.2 innings, allowing one run on two hits, striking out three. Emmanuel Reyes threw 4 innings of one hit ball in his start, he did walk four but also struck out three. Reyes is a 21-year-old out of the Dominican Republic.

The River Bandits are on the road to take on the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers this week; the series runs Tuesday through Sunday. The River Bandits lost of four of six to the Timber Rattlers when they played earlier this season.

Columbia Fireflies (11-10, 4 games back)

The Fireflies split their six-game series against the Augusta GreenJackets. Jordan Woods, who’s been really good so far on the bump, threw 5 innings of 4 hit ball, allowing 2 runs (1 earned), striking out 4. Woods season ERA now sits at 0.69. Blake Wolters threw 5 innings of 2 run ball, striking out 5 in his start. Wolters season ERA now sits at 1.59. Kendry Chourio didn’t make an appearance this week.

At the plate, Hyungchan Um, a catcher, was 2-for-14 at the plate, with a homer. Um is trying to become the first Royals player from South Korea, and the first Korean born catcher in MLB history. Um just turned 22 last week. Josh Hammond went 6-for-18 with a double, homer and three runs batted in. Sean Gamble on the other hand continues to struggle, he went just 3-for-20.

The Fireflies travel to Myrtle Beach, to take on the Pelicans. The series runs Tuesday through Sunday. The Fireflies took four of six from the Pelicans earlier this season.

Through the first few weeks of the professional baseball season in 2026, a headline for the Nationals has been the talent in the farm system blossoming, as many of their top prospects, and a few surprise names, have been raking to begin the year. Chief among that group is shortstop Ronny Cruz, who made the jump to High A Wilmington last week and has continued to go scorched earth, with a 185 wRC+ and 6 home runs in 92 plate appearances between Low A and High A.

It hasn’t just been a couple of names in the Nationals’ farm system making noise; there has been a jump in performance from more bats than ever. Entering today, 22 Nats minor league hitters have a wRC+ of 100 or higher, meaning they are hitting league average or better for their level of the minor leagues. That number is third in all of baseball currently, behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers with 24 and the San Francisco Giants with 28.

To put into context just how impressive a stat this is, let’s take a look at this statistic throughout the years for the Nats. In 2025, the Nats had 11 minor league hitters with a wRC+ of 100 or higher, and only 4 were above 120, a far cry from the 16 Nats with a 120+ wRC+ in 2026.

In 2024, only 9 Nats had a wRC+ over 100, and again, only 4 of them were above 120. 2023 was the same story as well, with 12 Nats above 100 and 4 above 120. Before analytics truly took over the game of baseball, the Nats would have 20+ hitters with league-average or higher wRC+ in the minor leagues, and it appears that under Paul Toboni and his staff, they have finally gotten back to that level.

The uptick in offensive performance for Nats minor league hitters has been in all aspects, as not only are walks up across the board thanks to improved approaches being instilled in hitters, but power numbers have shot up as well. Just take a look at the drastic change from years past to now in the Nats system in the chart below.

Nationals Minor League Hitters With A BB/K Ratio Over 0.50 And ISO Over .150

2026: 13

2025: 2 (0 above Complex League)

2024: 2 (0 above Dominican Summer League)

2023: 1 (Daylen Lile)

So to summarize, after back-to-back seasons with 0 players meeting the 0.50 BB/K ratio and .150 ISO benchmark, the Nats currently have a whopping 13 minor league hitters who are surpassing that number in 2026, and some quite easily, such as Seaver King, who has a 0.80 BB/K ratio and .264 ISO. I expected the new coaching staff to help make improvements to hitters’ approaches at the minor league levels, but it was a process that I expected to make multiple seasons, not one that we would see the fruits of the labor so quickly.

The one Nats minor league affiliate still struggling with their approach is the Rochester Red Wings, as the Nats Triple-A ballclub currently has 7 hitters with BB/K ratios under 0.50, and none who meet the BB/K ratio and ISO criteria listed above. Part of the reason for this is that Triple A has pitchers with both better stuff and command than the lower levels, but I also believe the hitters being older and more set in their ways than the new youngsters on the Nats farm plays a role as well.

It is easier to shape and mold the plate approach of a fresh-faced 19-year-old hitter than a 25-year-old hitter who worked his way through the minors with a different approach. With enough time and reps, hopefully the Nationals coaching staff can break through and help some players at the Triple-A level find increased success.

Happy Tuesday! A rough outing from starter Luis Castillo led to seven earned runs and an eventual 4-11 loss to the Minnesota Twins yesterday. Cal Raleigh’s seventh home run and RHP Alex Hoppe’s MLB debut were the lone bright spots in the otherwise difficult game. Logan Gilbert takes the mound tomorrow against Twins ace Joe Ryan at 4:40 PM.

In Mariners news…

• Cole Young joined MLB Network yesterday to discuss his performance this season, the Mariners’ pitching staff, and more.
• The Mariners are seeing an early payoff from the Jose A. Ferrer trade after a set of impressive outings.
• Join the Lookout Landing meetup at the Tacoma Rainiers’ game on Sunday, May 17th! Thank you to commenter Sweet Lou and those who have been organizing logistics.

Around the league…

• Toronto Blue Jays RHP Max Scherzer has been placed on the 15-day IL with right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation.
• The Cleveland Guardians are calling up former No. 1 draft pick Travis Bazzana to boost their infield.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers will be faced with a difficult decision regarding their starting rotation as LHP Blake Snell is nearing a return after injury.
• Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown is not planning to fire manager Joe Espada despite a slow start to their season .
• 53-year-old knuckleballer Vincent Towns has broken Roger Clemens’ Atlantic League record for oldest player to appear in a game.
• The New York Yankees have placed veteran designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton on the 10-day IL with a low-grade right calf strain.
• Making a change behind the plate could significantly improve the Miami Marlins’ path to contention this year.
• Brown University pitcher Olivia Pichardo has become the first woman to pitch in Division I baseball!

Making declarations about a baseball team before the calendar turns to May is a fool’s errand, but here we are. The Mets have been so bad to begin the 2026 season that it really does feel like their season has gone down the tubes. On top of the fact that they’re 9-19 and tied with the Phillies for the worst record in baseball, they’re playing without Francisco Lindor—their most versatile and arguably best overall player—for the foreseeable future.

Even if Lindor hadn’t suffered a calf injury last week, there would be major concerns about this version of the Mets mimicking their 2024 counterparts in turning things around after a very ugly start to the season. At the time that the team fell to 24-35 in early June, there were at least some signs of life sprinkled throughout the lineup. Six players were hitting above league average by wRC+ up to that point: Mark Vientos (174 wRC+), J.D. Martinez (132 wRC+), Pete Alonso (119 wRC+), Brandon Nimmo (111 wRC+), DJ Stewart (108 wRC+), and Starling Marte (104 wRC+).

As for Lindor, he had experienced a typical slow start at the plate, but his 95 wRC+ combined with his defense at shortstop and his baserunning had him worth 1.4 fWAR on the morning of June 3, 2024. That led the team at the time.

Beginning with their win on June 3, the Mets turned into one of the best teams in baseball, and Lindor was the best player on the team by a wide margin. Over the course of 426 plate appearances, he hit an incredible .303/.376/.566 with 24 home runs and stole 21 bases, giving him 33 home runs and 29 stolen bases in total at the end of the regular season. He earned 6.2 fWAR over that stretch, too, which accounted for the vast majority if his season total of 7.7. And the last of his regular season home runs was the most important, as it gave the Mets the win they needed to clinch a playoff spot on the final day of the season.

Lindor didn’t complete the Mets’ magical comeback alone, of course. As had been the case even during their miserable skid early in that season, he was joined by plenty of above-league-average hitters for those final few months of the season: Jose Iglesias (137 wRC+), Mark Vientos (126 wRC+), Pete Alonso (123 wRC+), Jeff McNeil (113 wRC+), Tyrone Taylor (113 wRC+), Brandon Nimmo (107 wRC+), Francisco Alvarez (104 wRC+), and Starling Marte (103 wRC+). Even Luisangel Acuña, who made just 40 plate appearances, put up a 166 wRC+ as he joined the team in September, while Ben Gamel had a 108 wRC+ in 30 plate appearances.

And the lesser hitters on the team during the comeback stretch weren’t terrible, as J.D. Martinez (98 wRC+), Jesse Winker (97 wRC+), and Luis Torrens (90 wRC+) weren’t that far below league average. Harrison Bader (78 wRC+) and DJ Stewart (51 wRC+) were the only hitters who got significant playing time while really struggling at the plate.

That brings us back to this 2026 team. It would be tough to see this lineup, which has been the worst in baseball so far this year, turning things around even if Lindor were fully healthy and playing to his career norms. Juan Soto has unsurprisingly been the Mets’ best hitter this year with his .304/.418/.413 line and 141 wRC+, but the only other hitter who’s made at least 40 plate appearances and been better than league average is Francisco Alvarez (117 wRC+). Lindor, somewhat fittingly for this piece, had a 94 wRC+ when he hit the injured list, and he had really started to heat up at the plate in the games leading up to the calf injury.

To salvage this season, the Mets would need Soto to have an otherworldly stretch from now through the end of September. He’s sitting on 0.3 fWAR at the moment and probably needs to play at an 8.3 fWAR pace like he did in 2024 with the Yankees—at least while Lindor is sidelined—to get this Mets team back into a spot where playoff contention feels like a real possibility.

And even if Soto does that and Lindor’s return to major league action comes sooner than expected, the two of them simply can’t do it alone. They’d need other players on base to drive in or to get hits behind them to drive them in. It’s certainly possible—maybe even quite likely—that most of those players will improve the rest of the way. It would be hard not to. Luis Robert Jr. (94 wRC+) has cooled off after a hot start at the plate, and the rest of the Mets’ hitters have only been worse. Mark Vientos (80 wRC+), Tyrone Taylor (69 wRC+), Marcus Semien (65 wRC+), Bo Bichette (62 wRC+), Brett Baty (60 wRC+), the injured Jorge Polanco (53 wRC+), and Carson Benge (52 wRC+) are going to have to figure it out. And it’s very hard to buy that MJ Melendez (145 wRC+) is for real in his first 24 plate appearances as a Met when he has a .500 BABIP and a 45.8 percent strikeout rate.

Again, this mess looks insurmountable even in a scenario where the Mets’ entire roster is healthy. But without Francisco Lindor? It’s just so much worse.

For a third series in a row, the Orioles come up against a team that is currently in last place in its division. This is a surprising statement to make for this next opponent, the Astros, who have consistently been pretty good over the last decade. It is early to give up on them and say the season is a failure, same as it’s early to say the same about the O’s. I’m sure that the Astros would rather be a lot better than 11-17 so far this season.

The problem for Houston so far is its pitching. They are 30th of 30 teams in ERA, bringing a 5.97 team ERA to this series. Yikes. They are 29th in rotation ERA and 30th in bullpen ERA. Two of their active starting pitchers and three of their active relievers have ERAs over 6. Two of their starters, including offseason addition Tatsuya Imai, are on the injured list right now. Neither aspect is working out so far. The Orioles, if you’re wondering, are 18th, with a 4.36 ERA, and the bullpen in particular looks a lot better once you exclude some one-or-two-game-disasters from the mix.

Things are going better for the Astros offense, at least so far. Yordan Alvarez has been going bonkers up to this point in the season, with 11 homers and a 1.220 OPS in 29 games. Former Oriole Christian Walker is having a resurgence after struggling in his first year in Houston; he brings a .946 OPS with seven homers into this series. Imagine having a first baseman with seven homers already this season! Longtime Astros Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are not at their career peaks, but still doing well.

As we know from the series the Orioles just finished, playing a last place team doesn’t mean anything. The Orioles have their own share of problems to overcome and when they do not do that, they lose a game or a series. It would be nice to see them put it together here because tougher times are coming after this. Following their games against the Astros, 12 of their next 16 games will have them facing current division leaders. That could get ugly!

Game 1: Tuesday, 6:35

• HOU starter: Kai-Wei Teng – 2.16 ERA, 0.900 WHIP, 4.63 FIP in 16.2 innings
• BAL starter: Shane Baz – 5.08 ERA, 1.553 WHIP, 3.69 FIP in 28.1 innings

Teng has yet to start a game this season and his high pitch count is 39. It does not look like an opener gambit, but rather one of desperation for lack of other options available. If Teng can give them 60 pitches, they’ll probably be happy with that. He’s not left-handed, nor are any of the Astros starters who are pitching in this series. The 27-year-old from Taiwan was traded from San Francisco over to Houston this offseason. The results have been there out of the bullpen so far. I’m curious to see how that translates multiple times through the order.

Baz needs to have a great start as an Oriole. His best so far is one run allowed over 5.2 innings, a game which the Orioles still managed to use. The other four have not been good. This is more for the sake of the 2026 Orioles season than it is about winning the trade/extension, although obviously it would be nice for the O’s if those things happen as well. We have just not yet seen things out of him to validate Mike Elias’s belief in Baz. The O’s could probably help Baz by putting a better defensive alignment behind him – that .360 BABIP luck is just crazy bad.

Game 2: Wednesday, 6:35

• HOU starter: Peter Lambert – 3.27 ERA, 1.273 WHIP, 1.85 FIP in 11 innings
• BAL starter: Chris Bassitt – 6.75 ERA, 2.063 WHIP, 6.27 FIP in 21.1 innings

Lambert, 29, is a player I have never thought about in my life before sitting down to write this series preview. He was drafted by the Rockies and pitched part of four seasons with them through 2024. He spent last year in Japan and returned to the US this year. Astros injuries have pressed him into service – he’s started two games and they’ve gone well for him so far. If you are wired like me, your first reaction to finding out the Orioles are going to face a relatively anonymous starting pitcher is to think it will go badly for them. Take heart: It doesn’t always go as bad as you remember. Or take despair: Sometimes it does go badly.

You might also despair because Bassitt is on the mound. He also needs to have a great start as an Oriole! His bad starts have been worse than Baz’s bad starts, by far; Bassitt only compares favorably if you’re comparing him against Charlie Morton last year. It is the case that Bassitt is like four runs better in ERA than Morton was before he got bounced from the rotation. Still, Bassitt is not pitching well enough to help the Orioles have a good chance to win games he starts. The only Bassitt win this year saw him allow five runs in 5.1 innings and he was lucky to be bailed out by the offense.

Back in spring training, we were getting stories about how Bassitt was motivated since he came so close to winning the World Series last year. The extra motivation isn’t solving whatever else is going on here. Maybe some day the Orioles will get a veteran clubhouse presence who is both a good teammate and a good player.

Game 3: Thursday, 12:05

• HOU starter: Lance McCullers Jr. – 6.75 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 5.06 FIP in 25.1 innings
• BAL starter: Brandon Young – 2.53 ERA, 1.125 WHIP, 3.88 FIP in 10.2 innings

We are far removed from McCullers having been a good MLB pitcher. He last started more than 20 games in 2021, missed 2023 and 2024 entirely due to injury issues, and was terrible in 16 games last year. Unfortunately for Houston, he’s picking up where he left off from last year, with all kinds of problems plaguing his game. As you and I both know, this is no guarantee that Orioles hitters will capitalize on this struggling pitcher. It would sure be nice to see them hit several home runs against a guy who’s already been homer-prone this year.

Young made two starts against the Astros during his rookie season a year ago, experiencing the highest of highs and some pretty low lows as well. The first game, he took a perfect through to two outs in the eighth inning, ultimately pitching eight shutout innings on the road in Houston. Six days later, back home in Baltimore, the Astros blasted him for seven runs in a 5.1 inning outing.

I had no interest in seeing Young start MLB games this season; he’s surprised me so far. It’s unlikely he will continue in the mid-2s for ERA but even if he floats up with an ERA closer to that 3.88 FIP, that is potential “save the season” stuff. You know, if enough else goes right with the Orioles for the performance of their #5 starter to make much of a difference.

**

Returning to the thought from before the matchups, a lot of Yankees games are looming after this series. It’s probably going to be tough for fans to believe that the Orioles can play well against the Yankees if they struggle against another last-place team. Houston is scraping the bottom of the barrel for a patchwork pitching staff. The Orioles offense needs to make something happen here, especially since they aren’t facing any lefty starters.

How do you think this series is going to go? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Last week, Andrew put out a post on our feed asking for your hot takes, and you all delivered. With the Yankees rolling and on their way to another competitive season, there’s plenty of things to get ambitious about, so let’s see what’s got you all fired up after a month or so of play.

We’re starting off bold here, Hector.

A 105-win season would easily top the output of any recent Yankees team, with only the 2019 team’s 103-win total coming close. There’s also been a dearth of 100+ win teams overall recently, with no one reaching the mark in the last two years. This year’s team is off to a solid start, tied for the second-most amount of wins in the league and clicking without two of their top pitchers as you noted, but maintaining that pace is a taller task than meeting it for a moment. This is a solid hot take.

Now we’re getting into it. Aaron Judge has just turned 34, to be fair — an age that most would agree is where an athlete exits or starts to exit their prime — but he’s coming off of two consecutive MVP campaigns and not shown any signs of slowing down thus far this season. Yes, the batting average isn’t where it was last season when Judge was spraying hard-hit balls and finding the outfield grass with regularity while winning his first batting crown, but he’s getting his walks and driving the ball at the same elite level that he’s been playing at since 2022.

Realistically, the at-least-soft decline it has to come at some point, and the Yankees have more than recouped enough value already out of the contract they inked Judge to in 2023 to justify whatever depreciation in his game comes in those later years. But will it start now, in 2026? I don’t think we’re there yet, but it’s certainly a hot take to claim that we are.

Ben Rice is putting himself in the national spotlight, isn’t he? The first baseman has been the Robin to Judge’s Batman in the lineup, crushing his 10th home run on Monday to move himself into a tie with James Wood for the third-most homers in the league. Only Munetaka Murakami (who’s been a hell of a steal for the White Sox thus far), Yordan Alvarez, and Judge have slugged more out of the park, and only Alvarez has a higher OPS than Rice with a narrow lead (1.220 for Alvarez vs. 1.191 for Rice). Offense on a level like that has been the best way to get into MVP discussions of late, and Rice has become a much-more competent fielder than he was last year so he’s no slouch on that end either — he just likely won’t get much credit for it unless he starts siphoning some games behind the plate as well. Regardless, he’s in good standing to make this a reality.

This is a two-parter though, so let’s talk about Cam Schlittler a little bit shall we? Entering play on Tuesday Schlittler currently leads MLB with 1.7 fWAR, putting him marginally ahead of his own teammate in Max Fried (1.5) and the likes of reigning two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal and burgeoning Angels ace José Soriano (1.4 each). Soriano has pitched to an absurd 0.24 ERA in six starts, and if he pitches even close to that mark the rest of the way he’d surely draw the eyes of most voters, but Schlittler has actually has a case for surpassing him in the long run: he’s walking just 1.01 batters per nine innings to Soriano’s 3.11, his FIP is a magnificent 1.53 while Soriano runs a (still elite but not as good) 2.23 FIP, and Soriano’s stranding an entirely-unsustainable 100 percent of his baserunners. There’s still plenty of other candidates that’ll be in the field, but Schlittler stands a very good chance of establishing himself as one of the best pitchers in the game and perhaps winning the hardware in the end.

So, we’ve got two takes that on their own sound pretty believable, with the Rice one seeming more likely thanks to the parameters having him finish in the top three as opposed to outright winning. Combined, however? It’s certainly bold to claim that both of the Yankees’ emerging stars will become supernovas in the same season. I don’t think anyone around here would mind if it turned out to be the case.

Now we’re getting crazy; this is what we’re here for. Ryan McMahon has gotten out of his own way on the field, separating his struggles at the plate from his ability to be a Gold Glove caliber defender and providing what the Yankees needed at the hot corner. In the process, finding himself out there might have cleared his head enough to start seeing the ball better at the plate as well, as he’s posted a respectable .757 OPS over his last 15 games.

Is that going to spiral all the way into him heating up enough to make the All-Star Game, let alone start it? Highly unlikely, but in the event that it does happen I’ll be going to you for some lotto numbers.

From your lips to God’s ears my friend. It’s been a rough couple of years trying to enjoy baseball in the Bronx during the summer, with June and July being a near-guaranteed cliff for the team to jump off of only to pick themselves back up during the dog days and avoid an actual collapse. Surprisingly, the 2022 Yankees managed to avoid a June-specific falloff, which is kind of funny because they’re the team that I associate with the trend becoming established: they actually had their best month of the year with a 22-6 record then! (The Cristian Javier-led combined Astros no-hitter notwithstanding.)

Of course, that 2022 squad did do its best to fall out of the division lead later on, and the months of July and August were indeed awful for the Bombers. But it’s funny to look back on the rest of Aaron Boone’s tenure and how the team has performed in the middle of the season with him heading the ship.

They started out pretty well all things considered, with Boone’s inaugural season in 2018 being fairly consistent the entire way through and the 2019 team also thriving in that time span. The 2021 team had the first true June swoon, and the last three rosters have all endured it as well, with the 2023 team maintaining the excuse of not having Judge around to buoy the lineup after that fateful encounter with the Dodger Stadium wall. Four out of five seasons suffering from this symptom, with the lone outlier experiencing it just a little later, is a tough track record to beat, but it sure is a hot take to claim they’ll manage just that. Hopefully this is no joke.

Considering only seven out of the 19 members of our own staff here made this pick, I’ll go out on a limb and say this is a scorcher of a take! The 17-year title drought has plenty of people pessimistic about the team’s chances to go all the way, but in all seriousness the team is built to compete and has the pieces for a deep run, should they survive the marathon that is an MLB season in good standing. The pitching staff is deeper than they’ve ever had in this era, and perhaps one of the deepest in franchise history, but the bullpen is an obvious flaw that could be their Achilles heel.

Luckily, that’s the easiest part of a roster to retool within a season, and they have internal candidates down in the minors should they want to go that route too. There’s only going to be so many more shots the Yankees can take at winning a title with Judge and Gerrit Cole fronting the championship push before they have to pay the real price of those lofty contracts, but if they can go all the way this year it’ll all be worth it.

With about a month of the season now elapsed we’ve had a solid chance to get our first looks at prospects throughout the Atlanta Braves system. Many players have stood out so far, especially on the offensive end with the Braves recent focus on hitting talent, and the performances of some players have caught national attentions in recent weeks. MLB Pipeline just released their Prospect Team of the Week for the week of April 21st through 26th, and three Braves feature on the list. 2025 First Round pick Tate Southisene is the biggest name of the bunch, though the performance of Eric Hartman in Greensboro and Rolddy Munoz’s resurgent season in Gwinnett’s bullpen also carry strong storylines.

As the primary leadoff man and second baseman for the Augusta GreenJackets, Tate Southisene has been every bit as good as his draft status would make Braves fans hope. Southisene had a bit of a shaky first week where he struggled with his timing a bit, but over the past two and a half series has had as many walks as strikeouts to go along with an impressive .314 isolated power. Last week in Columbia was the peak of the powers so far. Southisene hit safely in all six games to extend his hitting streak to eight, and was bringing the thump as well with two home runs and two doubles. His eye at the plate continued to be a major asset as he also drew eight walks while striking out only six times, and in total Southisene had a 1.267 OPS. Much was made of the complexity of Southisene’s load up and swing prior to the draft, but the Braves have put in immediate work to quiet his motion down. He is still going through an adjustment period but is taking to these big changes remarkably, and the arrow is up for him so far this year.

While Southisene has been the name to watch in the system, it’s been Eric Hartman who has provided the largest impact so far. He started out the week with a three home run game in the opener in Greensboro, and he didn’t slow down at all throughout the series. He finished with five total home runs to bring his season total to a South Atlantic League-leading eight, and he is also leading the lead in isolated power while being top five in hits, OPS, and wRC+. If there has been any knock on Hartman so far it has been his swing and miss numbers and approach at the plate, but he had a good week at the plate in that regard as well. His absurd 1.702 OPS last week led the system, and his strength at the plate has already been enough to bump his projection up a bit.

The final prospect of the week nod went to Rolddy Munoz, who has yet to allow a run this season for the Stripers. He had two dominant relief appearances last week, retiring all six of the batters he faced with four strikeouts. Munoz has not made a significant change to arsenal this season, but he is throwing first pitch strikes a bit more often and it has allowed him to work more effectively with his slider. He has a cut a chunk out of his walk rate (though his low in-zone rate hints as some regression there) and is utilizing his slider more often than he did last season.