Category: Baseball

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The Kansas City Royals go for the sweep of the Los Angeles Angels at Kauffman Stadium tonight. 

Headlined by Halos right-hander Reid Detmers, here are our favorite Angels vs. Royals predictions and MLB picks for Sunday, April 26.

Angels vs Royals props for April 26

Pick	Odds
Reid Detmers Over 5.5 strikeouts	-108
Bobby Witt Jr. to record an RBI	+135
Nolan Schanuel 2+ total bases	+125

Angels vs Royals player prop picks

Reid Detmers Over 5.5 strikeouts (-108)

Reid Detmers has looked superb in his return to the rotation. Through five starts, the Los Angeles Angels southpaw owns a 2.76 xERA and 3.05 FIP to go along with a healthy 25.8% strikeout rate.

Detmers has always been able to miss bats, and his 13.3% swinging-strike rate suggests even more Ks are on the way. Hitters haven’t been able to pick up his pitches, leading to a 90th-percentile chase rate.

The Kansas City Royals have struggled offensively against left-handers, posting a 70 wRC+ with a 24.5% strikeout rate. That sets up as a favorable matchup for Detmers, who is averaging 6.2 punchouts per start.

Bobby Witt Jr. to record an RBI (+135)

One Royal who could find success against Detmers is Bobby Witt Jr. The star shortstop is heating up after a slow start, slashing .360/.433/.520 over the last seven days.

Witt has been especially strong against LHP this season, going 9-for-23 at the dish with a 1.027 OPS. Detmers has been lethal against lefties (.161 AVG and 25.7% K-BB%), so run production might boil down to the right-handed Royals bats.

Kauffman Stadium has typically provided a boost for Witt, who’s hitting .311 with a 142 wRC+ in 328 career home games. The Royals have plated 18 runs through the first two games of the series, and Witt stands a good chance of knocking in a run if the offense stays hot.

Nolan Schanuel 2+ total bases (+125)

Seth Lugo takes the mound for Kansas City. The veteran struggled against left-handed bats (1.47 WHIP) a season ago, and with a Stuff+ of just 88, there’s little reason to expect those platoon splits to improve.

Enter Nolan Schanuel, who owns a 107 wRC+ against right-handed pitching while keeping strikeouts in check (14.6% K rate). Lugo posted an underwhelming 9.9% K-BB% against lefties in 2025, and pitching to contact against Schanuel could lead to a few base knocks or an extra-base hit.

Lugo is a soft-tosser who relies on a deep arsenal to keep hitters off balance. He ranks in the 99th percentile in breaking-ball run value, but Schanuel is hitting .286 against off-speed pitches.

How to watch Angels vs Royals and game info

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It’s Sunday once more, and you know what that means — it’s time for our weekly social media roundup! This week, the Yankees took to the road to face a pair of down-on-their luck rivals, heading up north to Boston and south to Houston for the first time this season. As always, with every road trip, comes a flood of social media posts. What have the Bombers been up to while traveling this week? Let’s get started!

Tales from the Bitter North

It may have been cold, but the Yankees — and the Yankees broadcasters — got into some shenanigans up in Boston, meeting with old friends, freezing their rear ends off, and, in the case of Meredith Marakovitz, once again breaking Wally’s heart.

It wasn’t all fun and games, though. While in Boston, the Yankees visited Walker, a seven year old Yankee fan at Boston Children’s Hospital who is waiting for a heart transplant. Ben Rice, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, and Aaron Boone went to the hospital directly, and Aaron Judge and others phoned in.

Game Belts

As happens when the Yankees win some ballgames, they passed the Game Belt around quite a bit this week.

Congrats, Ryan!

Yankees starter Ryan Weathers, the son of former Yankees reliever David Weathers, went on the paternity list during this week’s series against the Red Sox. Fortunately, on Thursday, he took to Instagram to announce the birth of his son. Congratulations to the Weathers family — if the pattern holds, we look forward to seeing him in pinstripes in 2056!

Dave’s Thoughts

As always, Yankees radio voice Dave Sims took to Instagram to react to the Yankees’ games this week.

Instagram Shenanigans

The Yankees and YES Network had some fun on the ‘gram this week. First, the Yankees posted another Question of the Day, where we learned which players… like to take their shoes off on the plane. Maybe it’s different in first class, but I don’t know, that just seems unsanitary to me.

Then, the YES Network had some fun with a social media trend about editing photos. Of note, look in the corner — you’ll see that, in this fictional universe, the YES account has exactly 99 unread messages. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

The Cincinnati Reds continued their roster revamp on Sunday morning, activating catcher Jose Trevino off the injured list after he’d been out of action at the big league level since back on April 4th.

Trevino, 33, has logged just 12 PA so far this season as a back issue has been dogging him since the first week of the season. To date, he’s just 1 for 11 with a walk and 3 K, though last year provided evidence that his value comes in ways much more nuanced that just with the bat. He’s an accomplished defender and manager of the pitching staff, and hopefully getting him back in the mix will help solidify a starting rotation that’s had some serious bumps through the first month of the season.

PJ Higgins was optioned back to AAA Louisville to make room on the roster, as the Reds relayed – with a sidenote that pitcher Nick Lodolo was sent out to begin his own rehab assignment.

Trevino notably caught Brady Singer more often than not during the 2025 season, starting 22 of the 32 games in which the former Kansas City Royal righty started. In those 22 games, Singer allowed opposing hitters just a .701 OPS, whereas he yielded an .863 OPS ing the 6 games started by Tyler Stephenson. His 3.58 ERA and 2.74 K/BB were also notably better when pitching to Trevino than when he pitched to Ty Steves (6.14 ERA, 1.42 K/BB).

It was less pronounced with Andrew Abbott, who was excellent regardless last year, but the southpaw did yield a lower OPS to opposing batters in the 10 games he threw to Trevino (.602) than he did when pitching to Stephenson 18 times (.668).

That’s not to say that having Trevino back will completely solve all issues those two starters have faced so far in 2026, but the hope is that it sure won’t hurt to have his game-calling back in the mix.

Trevino will be right back in action on Sunday, as he’s in the starting lineup slated to catch righty Rhett Lowder for the second time this year. In their first outing together, Lowder fired 6.0 IP of scoreless ball against the Texas Rangers back on April 4th.

After actually winning a game on Saturday night, the Phillies will try to repeat the feat on Sunday afternoon in the finale of their series against the Braves.

Aaron Nola gets the start for the Phillies. The veteran righty is 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA this season.

He’ll be opposed by Braves ace Chris Sale, who is having another strong season at 4-1 with a 2.79 ERA.

Game time is 1:35 and will be televised locally by NBCSP.

Texas Rangers lineup for April 26, 2026 against the A’s: starting pitchers are Kumar Rocker for the Rangers and J.T. Ginn for the A’s.

Texas plays the series finale against the A’s this afternoon. It is kind of a big game…the difference between winning two straight series and not, the difference between a winning week and a .500 week. If the Rangers win, they will have sole possession of first place in the A.L. West. If they don’t, they’ll be a game back of the A’s in the West.

The lineup:

Nimmo — RF

Pederson — DH

Seager — SS

Jung — 3B

Carter — CF

Burger — 1B

Smith — 2B

Jansen — C

Osuna — LF

1:35 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -120 favorites.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates will attempt a series sweep of their NL Central rival, the Milwaukee Brewers, when the teams meet this afternoon.

My Pirates vs. Brewers predictions expect Pittsburgh to sweep a series in Milwaukee for the first time in a decade.

Find out why in my MLB picks for Sunday, April 26.

Who will win Pirates vs Brewers today: Pirates (+107)

Carmen Mlodzinski takes the bump for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he’s shown improvement in his arsenal. His split-finger usage has nearly doubled from last year, a key reason he’s ranked in the 91st percentile in barrel rate.

Mlodzinski faces a Milwaukee Brewers lineup that’s posted a .074 ISO and a 76 wRC+ over the last two weeks, ranking dead-last in both metrics.

Kyle Harrison is prime for some regression, given his ERA of 3.06 is far exceeding his 4.41 xERA. Pittsburgh’s bullpen also has the fourth-best xERA over the past two weeks and will close out the win. 

COVERS INTEL: Carmen Mlodzinski is averaging 38.4 inches of vertical drop on his split-finger fastball, an increase of 2.1 inches over last season.

Pirates vs Brewers Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (-110)

We were unfortunate to hit the Under yesterday, with the game tied at 3-3 heading into extra innings. That said, we take that route again today.

Harrison is getting strikeouts on a consistent basis, an area where the top of Pittsburgh’s lineup has struggled at times. 

The Pirates rank sixth in strikeout rate over the past two weeks, which has negated their high BABIP. They’re also right at 100 in wRC+ in that span.

The Brewers have scored just nine runs in their last four games, and their struggles at the plate will help keep this score low.  

Pirates vs Brewers odds

• Moneyline: Pirates +108 | Brewers -113
• Run line: Pirates +1.5 (-194) | Brewers -1.5 (+186)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-104) | Under 7.5 (+100)

Pirates vs Brewers trend

The Pittsburgh Pirates have hit the run line in 15 of their last 22 games (+9.65 Units / 34% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Pirates vs. Brewers.

How to watch Pirates vs Brewers and game info

Pirates vs Brewers latest injuries

Pirates vs Brewers weather

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A pitcher due for negative regression takes the mound for the Kansas City Royals as they wrap up a series with the Anaheim Angels on Sunday Night Baseball.

After being blown out yesterday, the Halos will look to avoid a sweep, and we like their chances to do it.

My Angels vs. Royals predictions and MLB picks see value in backing the underdog tonight.

Who will win Angels vs Royals today: Angels (+102)

Kansas City Royals arm Seth Lugo is getting respect from bookmakers because of his career body of work, but this season's underlying profile suggests regression is coming.

While I don’t have a strong conviction in this game, I see this moneyline as a coin flip, which gives me more than enough value to back Anaheim. 

Los Angeles Angels hurler Reid Detmers is going to give up runs because he’s a chase-reliant pitcher facing one of the most disciplined lineups in baseball. This is a bet on him being serviceable. It’s also a bet on L.A.'s free-swinging approach causing Lugo issues.

Lugo ranks in the Bottom 30th percentile of baseball in chase rate and whiff rate, meaning the things that usually present problems for this L.A. lineup won’t be present.

He also ranks well below league average in barrel rate. Quietly, this Angels lineup has raked, ranking sixth in the MLB in barrel rate.

COVERS INTEL:Seth Lugo’s expected ERA is nearly three full runs higher than his actual ERA of 1.15, which is one of the largest gaps in baseball right now.

Angels vs Royals Over/Under pick: Over 8.5 (-110)

It’s hard to back the Angels without also taking the Over, so I’ll do that. I made this a total of 9.3.The Angels' aggressive plate approach should actually work to their advantage, given the pitching dynamics I’ve outlined above.

Conversely, the Royals boast a disciplined order with a 29% chase rate, sitting comfortably below the league average. This suggests Detmers won't find much success baiting them out of the zone.

Forced to attack, he’s much more vulnerable against a KC lineup featuring legitimate barrel threats like Jac Caglianone and Bobby Witt Jr., among others.

Angels vs Royals odds

• Moneyline: Angels +105 | Royals -125
• Run line: Angels +1.5 (-200) | Royals -1.5 (+150)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5

Angels vs Royals trend

The Royals have cashed the first five innings moneyline in 11 of their last 18 home games for +4.3 units and a 17% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Angels vs. Royals.

How to watch Angels vs Royals and game info

Angels vs Royals latest injuries

Angels vs Royals weather

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The Maven wants you to know that a lof of smart people in the National Hockey League believe that your Rangers stink.

And I'm not talking about Islanders fans nor anyone else who has a vested interested in the Blueshirts' good and welfare. Here's a simple explanation:

I just finished reading Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons who wrote;

"More than one (NHL) agent told me that the Rangers are the worst-run team in the NHL."

This from the most veteran and best sports writer on the continent. Look around the NHL and see who succeeds and fails.

Hottest, fastest young teams in the playoffs are the Canadiens and Ducks. Each team is sprinkled with former Rangers.

Not that long ago, Habs boss (Director of Hockey Ops) Jeff Gorton was turning the Rangers into a contender, along with arguably the most popular off-ice Blueshirt – John Davidson.

One day some MSG genius got Rangers' owner Jim Dolan's ear, fed him some apple sauce and Slim Jim fired Gorton-Davidson, leaving the Faithful with "the worst-run team in the NHL."

We'll find out next season whether it's "the worst-run team in history!"

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You can always count on New York to serve up baseball headlines, and this year is no different.

The New York Mets are off to a disastrous start, but starter Nolan McLean deserves our attention. So too does Landen Roupp, who has been doing his best to keep San Francisco afloat.

My favorite MLB player props for April 26 wrap up with Ernie Clement, the Toronto Blue Jays’ Mr. Reliable.

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Ernie Clement	Over 1.5 total bases	+105
Nolan McLean	Over 7.5 strikeouts	-106
Landen Roupp	Over 5.5 strikeouts	+116

Ernie Clement Over 1.5 total bases [+105]

The Blue Jays have been rocked by key injuries during the first month of the season, and that’s made Ernie Clement’s consistency at the plate even more valuable — which is why he made my MLB picks card.

With his .324 batting average and ability to make contact, he’s earned a spot up the order — and he’ll get pitches to hit as long as he’s slotted ahead of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Clement brings a nine-game hit streak into today’s clash with the Cleveland Guardians, and he’s clubbed seven doubles in that span.

I like his chances of doing damage today against Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi, who gave up seven runs on 10 hits in his last outing.

• Time: 1:37 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SN, CLEG

Nolan McLean Over 7.5 strikeouts [-106]

Nolan McLean has wasted no time confirming his impressive 2025 cameo was no fluke.

As New York tries to climb out of its 9-17 hole, McLean is a good choice to lead the charge. He’s gone past this O/U number in four of his five starts this year, and he racked up 10 Ks in Tuesday’s loss to the Minnesota Twins.

McLean enters with a 2.67 ERA and 0.76 WHIP, and he’ll pose major problems here for a Rockies lineup that struck out 15 times against New York on Friday.

• Time: 1:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SNY, COLR

Landen Roupp Over 5.5 strikeouts [+116]

The San Francisco Giants are off to a wobbly 12-15 start, but Landen Roupp has taken the ball in four of those wins, and this prop feels like good value at plus odds today against the Miami Marlins.

Roupp has finished with six or more Ks in four of his five outings this season, and he outpitched Yoshinobu Yamamoto earlier this week while holding the stacked L.A. Dodgers lineup to just one hit through five innings of work.

Leaning on his sinker and curveball, especially against righties, Roupp looks poised to be one of 2026’s breakout arms, and that spells trouble for the Marlins here.

• Time: 4:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBCS-Bay Area, MIAM

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The Atlanta Braves are looking to extend their successful series record, but for the Philadelphia Phillies, after last week’s embarrassing sweep against them on their home turf, they’re looking to repay the favor and snap that extension.

Let’s look at these rosters.

The lineup for the Braves looks pretty identical to yesterday’s with a familiar face returning. Michael Harris II will be set to DH with an official spot back on the lineup. It’s safe to say that his presence is much appreciated and anticipated after his late scratch earlier in the series. Especially when you look at his past stats against Phillies Pitcher Aaron Nola, with 27 total at-bats against the righty, he averages a .943 OPS with three homers and seven total hits.

Jorge Mateo will also be rejoining the squad as shortstop, looking to get his first start against Nola and hopefully continuing his successful stint with the team.

Chris Sale is set to take the mound, making this his ninth start against the team and has allowed no more than a single run to the Phillies in each of his last three starts against them.

As for their opponent, the Phillies are also keeping their lineup pretty similar to yesterday’s, with an addition of Felix Reyes on left field and Dylan Moore in center.

Don’t let Nola’s 5.06 ERA fool you, he’s no stranger to the Braves’ offense, and with his advanced arsenal, he’s ready to make a statement.

After finally gaining a long-awaited success yesterday, they’re hoping to extend it and put a stop to the Bravos’ MLB-leading streak.

Tune in to watch the finale at 1:35, and come back to us after to discuss the results.

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Some of the best sluggers in the majors hit the diamond today during a full MLB slate.

My MLB player props will look for Aaron Judge, Matt Olson, and Munetaka Murakami to go long today. 

Read the full analysis in my MLB picks below for Sunday, April 26.

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Aaron Judge	+240
Matt Olson	+300
Munetaka Murakami	+290
💲Today's HR parlay	+5204

Aaron Judge (+240)

Aaron Judge is not making quite as much contact as he’d like, batting just .229 so far this season, but the power is there as always. The New York Yankees superstar has nine home runs and is just two back of the league lead.

Judge will reach double digits in the home run column this afternoon against a Houston Astros pitching staff that can’t keep the ball in the park.

The Astros have allowed 42 dingers already — the second most in the majors — while their bullpen has given up an MLB-worst 25 home runs and holds a collective 6.19 ERA.

Time: 2:10 p.m. ET

• Time: 2:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: YES, SCHN

Matt Olson (+300)

The Atlanta Braves are off to a hot start, thanks in large part to Matt Olson. Atlanta ranks third in MLB with 38 home runs, and seven have come off Olson’s bat.

All seven of Olson’s dingers have come in his last 22 games as he’s batting .304 with a ridiculous 1.034 OPS in April.

Philadelphia Phillies starter Aaron Nola holds a 5.06 ERA and has allowed four home runs over five starts, including one in two of his last three games.

The left-batting Olson has hit five of his seven home runs vs. right-handed pitching and is hitting .319 with the platoon advantage this season.

• Time: 1:35 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBCS-Philadelphia, BravesVision

Munetaka Murakami (+290)

Munetaka Murakami has had a dream start to his MLB career, with his 11 home runs tied for the lead among all batters.

The Chicago White Sox first baseman has been on fire with six home runs over his last eight contests, and I like his chances to go long again vs. a brutal Washington Nationals pitching staff.

Nats starter Foster Griffin has already given up five homers in five games, including two against the Braves last time out. Washington has allowed 48 home runs — more than any other team — with 24 of those given up by the bullpen.

• Time: 2:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Chicago Sports Network, Nationals.TV

Today’s HR parlay

Aaron Judge	Bet Now +5204
Matt Olsoin
Munetaka Murakami

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A.J. Russell started for Hickory, striking out three and walking two in two innings while allowing two runs. Moises Morales struck out six in five shutout innings.

Paulino Santana had a hit. Yolfran Castillo had a hit and a stolen base. Hector Osorio had a hit. Josh Spring had a hit.

Hickory box score

Hub City was rained out.

Frisco’s game was called after five innings due to weather. Frisco starter Dylan MacLean went 4.2 innings, allowing five runs, striking out six and walking two while allowing a home run.

Dylan Dreiling had a hit. Keith Jones II had a hit.

Frisco box score

Round Rock played two.

In the first game, Ryan Brasier struck out three and walked one in a scoreless inning.

Cam Cauley was 3 for 4 with a double. Aaron Zavala had a double.

In the second game, Thomas Ireland struck out four and walked one in 2.1 scoreless inning. Josh Sborz allowed a two run homer in an inning of work, walking one and striking out two. Robbie Ahlstrom struck out three in 1.2 scoreless innings. Michel Otanez allowed a run in 1.2 IP, walking four and striking out three.

Justin Foscue had a double and a walk. Michael Helman had a hit.

Round Rock Game One box score

Round Rock Game Two box score

The Mariners drew more fans in April than they have in 20-plus years.

T-Mobile Park has hosted 539,263 fans so far in 2026. That’s the second most in March and April in the history of the park, only bested by 619,771 fans in April 2002. The average attendance over 17 games (31,721 fans) is sixth most, behind all the years 2000-2004.

That said, not that many fans showed up to Opening Day. Well, it was essentially a sell out at 44,938 fans. But that’s actually the fourth fewest in the history of Opening Day at T-Mobile Park (though still a skosh higher than 42,871 on Opening Day last year).

Why? Probably because first pitch was at 7:10 p.m. on a Thursday against the Guardians with the temperature in the 40s.

The best attendance so far actually came on Saturday, April 18, with 45,552 tickets sold. About 10,000 of those fans went home with a Cal Raleigh 70s Night jersey. The others were treated to 70-degree weather while they watched the Mariners snap a four-game losing streak against the Rangers.

I wrote at length about the Mariners attendance at the end of last season. I did some loose math in search of what determines attendance, and found to no surprise that fans mostly like winners. Teams that win see more fans throughout the season, and teams that make the playoffs often get a big boost the following year. I figured there’s a reasonable shot for the Mariners to draw three million fans this year. Attendance is up in April for a reason.

In that post, I pointed out that the April schedule looked like a tough draw. For instance, I thought the Guardians weren’t ideal out the gate in the frigid days of March. That ended up being wrong. Yes, Opening Day attendance was (relatively) low, as stated above, but game two was the fourth highest attended game two in the history of the park. Game three was the second best game three. More than 156,000 fans poured into the stadium on Opening Weekend. Fans were excited to see their new banner.

I also pointed out the timing of the Yankees series was not ideal. This ended up being correct. It was the second series of the season in March on a Monday to Wednesday for the only home series against the Yankees of the year. Fans care very much about who the Mariners play when deciding whether to show up, and the Yankees tend to be one of the five biggest draws in Seattle each year. This year, only an average of 27,832 fans showed up, making it the third lowest attendance for a series against the Yankees in the history of the park.

Still, fans showed up big time for the series against the Rangers and Astros. If attendance were to hold at the level from April, the Mariners would expect to draw 2,569,401 fans in 2026, or just a smidge more fans than 2025. If the team wins, however, attendance should trend up as the weather gets warm. This isn’t a bad start toward three million.

After the road trip, the Mariners will face the Royals for Randy Johnson Number Retirement Weekend. Fans will get a jersey on Friday, they’ll get to see the Big Unit himself on Saturday, and they’ll get a Kingdome pin on Sunday. Then they’ll face the Braves — another potentially big draw — on that pesky Monday through Wednesday slate. Perhaps warmer weather will compel larger turn out. Later in the month is the Vedder Cup, followed by a weekday series with the White Sox. How will the Mariners coax fans to the ballpark to see the South Siders? A well-timed Josh Naylor bobblehead, of course.

As the summer progresses, there will be jersey days and collegiate nights and value games and fireworks and bobbles and Funkos and Blue Jays. The Mariners will also celebrate their 50th season on August 8 against the Rays — the same team and dates of last year’s spectacular Ichiro weekend.

The Mariners finish the year with a six-game homestand — two against the Astros and four against the Angels. Again, if they’re relevant, people will show up for a chance to see the Mariners clinch their first ever back-to-back AL West title.

I find it appropriate to start out by hat tipping the Dodgers offense. They curb stomped Colin Rea and Javier Assad in this one. A further hat tip to four Dodger relievers who combined to allow just two hits and a walk over the final four innings of the game. The Dodgers offense and bullpen were just too much for the Cubs on this night. To say anything else would be revisionist history.

Everything below that first paragraph may be described as coping, I guess. If you’d have asked me about how the Cubs would do with a 13-game stretch, with one day off, It started in Philly, had the lone off day, then went home for seven with the Mets and Phillies, then immediately went west for three with the Dodgers. 13 games, 14 days against three teams who I thought would be playoff teams this year, I’d have said eight wins would be decent, nine good and 10 knocking it out of the park. They have the 10 wins already and still have one more game in hand with a chance for 11.

If you’ve read me before, you’ve probably read me saying “Get greedy.” When you’ve got eight, get nine. After nine, get 10. After 10, get 11. Just because things fall your way and you catch two potentially good teams when they are anything but, you kick them when you are down and then you go try to get more. I’m absolutely disappointed they didn’t get another one. This was a pretty good matchup as things are ever going to go against the Dodgers. As crazy as it is given relative contract as a barometer, Colin Rea is a more accomplished MLB pitcher than Roki Sasaki. If the Cubs were going to win one, I thought this one was their best shot.

I was out, but had the first six innings of the game on (again). I didn’t look, but I had the captioning on for the national broadcast. I didn’t check if there was a second option. Regardless, I sometimes like to hear what the national broadcast has to say. I’m usually the last to call out the national broadcast. I’m sure that’s why I’m less bothered by Boog than many of you are. And yes, I get it about the inane side conversations at weird times. But anyway, my favorite exchange on the national broadcast came in the sixth inning. That was when they decided to suggest that this was the best Sasaki has looked. Granted, he’d shown some swing-and-miss stuff. And if they’d said, there were some positives here for a guy who’s struggled, I think that’s perfect. They were gushing about what a good start it was. Raise your hand if you ever think your pitcher did a good job when he’s allowed four runs, three on homers in the first five innings of a game. The Dodgers offense through five innings? Relentless and overpowering. Sasaki? Fortunate that he didn’t give away a game when the offense was so exceptional.

I realize national broadcasts want to have their guys to shill their stuff. It would be so much better if they just pulled one guy from each team and let them work together on the call. At least then we’d have announcers familiar with the players and their relative performances and perspective for their accomplishments. I know some of the national crews are really good. But in baseball, I find that more the exception than the rule. Different than the NFL, each MLB team does have a dedicated team that calls very nearly every game. It doesn’t have to be this way. And you might get some fun interaction with my team/your team stuff. In a lot of cases, I don’t think it could be worse.

Just my two cents.

Three Positives:

• Seiya Suzuki had three hits, one a homer.
• Moisés Ballesteros had a homer and a walk. The walk came against a lefty. I saw them say he saw something like 24 pitches in his first three plate appearances. Plays this game like a guy who’s been around for years.
• Vince Velasquez threw in really low leverage. But, he faced eight batters and recorded seven outs. The Cubs will have most of their bullpen available to chase another win in this series.

Game 27, April 25: Dodgers 12, Cubs 4 (17-10)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero:  Moisés Ballesteros (.200). 1-3, HR, BB, RBI, R
• Hero: Seiya Suzuki (.140). 3-4, HR, RBI, R
• Sidekick: Michael Busch (.041). 1-5, RBI

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Colin Rea (-.371). 3.1 IP, 20 BF, 6 H, 4 BB, 6 ER, 4 K (L 3-1)
• Goat: Javier Assad (-.245). 2.1 IP, 16 BF, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 ER, 2 K
• Kid: Dansby Swanson (-.097). 0-4

WPA Play of the Game: With the Dodgers trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the third, Max Muncy hit a one-out, two-run homer to tie the game. (.186)

*Cubs Play of the Game: With the game tied in the fourth inning, Moisés Ballesteros hit a solo homer. (.133)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 26 Winner: Dansby Swanson received 248 of 302 votes.

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 3/Bottom 3)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Nico Hoerner +7.5
• Michael Conforto/Shōta Imanaga +7
• Matt Shaw -7
• Jacob Webb -9
• Pete Crow-Armstrong -13

Current Win Pace: 102

Up Next: With all due respect to Meat Loaf, two out of three here would be terrific. The third and final game of the series at the very reasonable hour of 3:10 central. The Cubs will send Shōta Imanaga (2-1, 2.17, 29 IP) to the mound. He’s been nothing shy of terrific for the Cubs so far this year. He’s allowed two runs on six hits and three walks over his last three starts (19 IP).

Hoffman Estates, IL native (though he attended high school in Georgia) Justin Wrobleski (3-0, 1.88, 24 IP) has arguably been even better for the Dodgers. The 11th-round pick of the Dodgers in 2021 out of Oklahoma State is a rarity in modern baseball. He doesn’t really strike out a ton of hitters (just nine so far). He’s won each of his last three starts, allowing two runs on 12 hits and four walks (20 IP). In the process he won in both Colorado and Toronto, two very different challenges.

This is another tough one. But the Cubs have won some tough matchups lately. Let’s do it again.

Another day of minor league baseball is in the books. See the results below.

AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (14-12)

Game One – lost 5-3 (BOX SCORE)

Alexander got the start for Sugar Land but struggled allowing 5 runs over 5 innings of work. The offense got on the board in the 3rd on a Dezenzo RBI double. They got 2 more in the 4th on a Salazar 2 run home run. Unfortunately that was it from the offense as Sugar Land fell 5-3.

Note: Maldonado has a 2.31 ERA this season.

• CJ Alexander, 3B: 1-for-2, R, 2 BB
• Zach Dezenzo, DH: 1-for-2, 2B, RBI, 2 BB
• Cesar Salazar, C: 2-for-3, R, HR, 2 RBI

• Jason Alexander, RHP: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
• Anthony Maldonado, RHP: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Game Two – lost 5-3 (BOX SCORE)

Hendrickson started for Sugar Land in game two and went 4.1 innings allowing 2 runs. In the bottom of the 6th, Sugar Land tied it up on a Price 2 run home run. The squads exchanged runs in the 8th with Price tying it on a sac fly. In the 9th, the Express got two runs to take the lead and the offense went down quietly as they dropped game two 5-3.

Note: Santa has a 1.64 ERA this season.

• James Nelson, 3B: 2-for-5, 2B
• Carlos Perez, C: 0-for-2, R, 2 BB
• Collin Price, 1B: 2-for-3, R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI
• Riley Unroe, SS: 2-for-3, 2B, BB

• Josh Hendrickson, LHP: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
• Logan VanWey, RHP: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
• Alimber Santa, RHP: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
• J.P. France, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (10-10) lost 5-2 (BOX SCORE)

The Hooks got on the board in the 3rd inning thanks to a Garcia 2 run home run. Gillis got the start and was pitching well but ran into trouble in the 4th inning allowing 5 runs. The offense was quiet the rest of the way as the Hooks fell 5-2.

Note: Encarnacion is hitting .286 this season.

• Yamal Encarnacion, 2B: 1-for-3
• Luis Baez, LF: 1-for-3
• Tyler Whitaker, RF: 1-for-3, R
• John Garcia, 1B: 1-for-3, R, HR, 2 RBI

• Brett Gillis, RHP: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
• Ramsey David, RHP: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

A+: Asheville Tourists (5-15) lost 11-5 (BOX SCORE)

Howard got the start for Asheville and allowed 3 runs over 5.2 innings. The offense got on the board in the 5th inning on a Walker RBI single and Schiavone walk. They got 3 more runs in the 7th inning on an error, a Frey sac fly and a run on a wild pitch. The pen struggled though allowing 8 runs as Asheville fell 11-5.

Note: Schiavone has a .956 OPS this season.

• Justin Thomas, RF: 0-for-3, R, 2 BB, SB
• Jason Schiavone, C: 0-for-2, R, RBI, 3 BB, SB
• Ethan Frey, CF: 1-for-4, RBI
• Drew Brutcher, 1B: 1-for-4, BB
• Max Holy, 2B: 0-for-3, R, 2 BB, SB
• Narbe Cruz, SS: 1-for-5, 2B
• Kyle Walker, 3B: 1-for-4, R, RBI, SB
• Caden Powell, LF: 1-for-2, R, 2 BB, 2 SB

• Dylan Howard, RHP: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
• Joan Ogando, RHP: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
• Jose Guedez, RHP: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (7-12) SUSPENDED

Today’s minor league starters:

SL: Brandon Bielak – 2:05 CT

CC: Trey Dombroski – 1:35 CT

AV: TBD – 12:05 CT

FV: TBD – 4:05 CT