The main takeaway from todays game was that Cooper Ingle was removed from the game with a foot injury after starting 2-2. Ingle has been unbelievable to start the season with a .394 average and an OPS of 1.418. Lets hope this injury is nothing serious. Travis Bazzana went 1-3 with two walks and continues to find ways to succeed at the plate despite not hitting the ball hard as consistently as we would like. He’s up to a .286 average with an OPS of .882.
Ryan Webb had a rocky start, allowing two earned runs in four innings pitched while striking out four and walking three. His ERA is up to 7.50 on the season. Daniel Espino’s stat line looks pretty rough, but he only allowed one hard hit ball in his outing.
It was a big day for the RubberDucks offense! Angel Genao went 1-3 with two walks and two RBIs. He’s up to a .296 average with an OPS of .902. Ralphy Velazquez went 0-2 with three walks. Jacob Cozart went 2-5 with an RBI, Nick Mitchell went 2-4 with two walks and an RBI. Guy Lipscomb went 3-5 with an RBI double, he has had a great start to the season with an average of .368 and an OPS of .929.
It was an ok start for Josh Hartle, he tossed five innings and allowed three runs while striking out three and walking two. His ERA is at 3.20 on the season.
Dean Curley continues his hot start to the season going 1-2 with a double and two walks. He is now hitting .277 with an .891 OPS. Nolan Schubart and Ryan Cesarini both went 1-3 with a walk.
Jackson Humphries had a bit of a rough outing. He struck out five but he allowed four runs in just 2.1 innings pitched. His ERA is now up to 4.41 on the season. Despite the rough outing, he is someone who has looked very much improved this season and is someone to keep an eye on this season.
Even in a loss, this Hill City team can really hit. The top three hitting prospects on the team in Caceres, Arias, and Fernandez combined to go 2-13 and they still scored five runs on eleven hits. Anthony Martinez has had an awesome start to the season, he went 2-4 his fourth HR this season and now has an OPS of 1.040. Yeiferth Castillo and Jonathan Martinez also went 2-4 and are having nice seasons as 19 year olds in Single A.
Nelson Keljo had another awesome start, with 3.2 scoreless innings and five strikeouts to zero walks. His ERA is down to 1.59 on the season. Miguel Flores finally showed some signs of being human after previously not allowing a single earned run this season. He allowed four runs in two innings pitched and had his ERA skyrocket up to 2.40 on the season. I would not be too worried about him.
Apr 21, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner (2) reacts after scoring during the sixth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | Matt Marton-Imagn Images
It’s Wednesday evening here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hot spot for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and sit with us for a while. We can always find room for another friendly face. There’s no cover charge tonight. We still have a few tables available. The hostess will seat you now. 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 won their eighth-straight game tonight, 7-2 over the Phillies. First Cubs game to ever end on an ABS challenge as well. I think this team might be good.
Here’s the part where we listen to jazz and talk movies. You can skip ahead if you want.
We’re continuing our look at Chicago jazz in anticipation of International Jazz Day, hosted in the Second City on April 30. We’ve got a young (-ish) Chicagoan in vibraphonist Joel Ross. (Thirty is practically a baby in jazz.) This is from his brand-new album Gospel Music and is titled “Wisdom is Eternal (For Barry Harris).”
Ross is joined here by saxophonists Josh Johnson (alto) and Maria Grand (tenor), Jeremy Corren on piano, Kanoa Mendenhall is the bassist and Jeremy Dutton plays the drums.
I don’t have a movie to write about tonight, but some of you in the comments yesterday wanted to talk about Oklahoma!, so I thought I’d give you the chance to tell us about your favorite musicals.
I’ll say off the bat that Oklahoma! is not one of my favorites. I don’t begrudge those who like it and I certainly don’t think it’s a poorly-made film or musical. It’s just not to my tastes. If it’s something that appeals to you, great. It’s very good at whatever it is that it does and you’ll never hear a bad word about Shirley Jones out of my lips.
I’ve said before that my favorite musicals are the works of Jacques Demy with music by Michel Legrand: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort. I’m also a big fan of the Busby Berkeley trio from the early-thirties: 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933 and Footlight Parade. Maybe they are not traditional musicals in that none of the songs are non-diegetic—that is, everyone who is signing is singing because they’re on a stage.
I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for My Fair Lady. The Judy Garland/James Mason version of A Star is Born is terrific too.
I am also a huge fan of the television show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which may be the only musical television program that actually worked. That they were able to get two songs a week (and make them good) into a 47-minute show 13 times a year was incredible. It’s probably the best show you’ve never watched and yes, I admit the title scared some people off. They address that in the first season theme song.
So tell us which musicals get you tapping your toes.
Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and the movies.
There’s no doubt that second baseman Nico Hoerner has been the most valuable Cub so far this season. In fact, according to both Baseball Reference and Fangraphs, Nico Hoerner has been the most valuable player in the National League so far this young season.
We all know about Hoerner’s skills. He’s a Gold Glove defender at second base. He makes a lot of hard contact and rarely swings and misses. He hits for a high batting average and draws an average number of walks, which gives him an above-average on-base percentage. He’s also an elite baserunner who can steal around 30 to 40 bases a year.
What’s different this year is that Hoerner is hitting for power. It’s a small sample size to be sure, but Hoerner has four home runs over just 23 games. It’s always dangerous to extrapolate out from a small sample, but that’s a 28 home run pace. What makes that more impressive is that it’s all been done in April, where Wrigley Field usually plays like a pitcher’s park.
Hoerner has never hit more than ten home runs in a season, but this power surge isn’t just isolated to this year. As you probably know, Hoerner had no home runs last year through the Cubs’ first 78 games. Then he hit seven over the final 84. So you can really trace this increase in power to mid-season of last year.
So what is Hoerner doing differently? He’s really not hitting the ball any harder or making any more contact. His swing rate is down a bit, which is leading to more walks and more strikeouts, but the increase strikeouts are all looking. His swinging strikeout rate is as low as ever.
What Hoerner is doing is hitting the ball more in the air and pulling the ball more. Maybe that’s a result of him being more selective at what pitches he swings at. Maybe it’s just random. But Hoerner’s ground ball rate last year was 45.3 percent and this year it’s down to 33.7. His fly ball rate has increased from 34.3 percent to 41 and his line drive rate is up to 25.3 percent from 20 percent. His pull rate has gone from 37.9 percent to 42.2 and his opposite field rate has dropped from 25.5 percent to 20.5 percent.
So that would explain some of the increase in home runs. On the other hand, it could just be statistical noise. Hoerner’s career home-run-to-fly-ball ratio is 5.1%. This year, that’s jumped up to 11.8 percent. That’s greater than Ian Happ’s career numbers and only slightly below Seiya Suzuki’s. Statcast gives Hoerner’s “expected” home run total at 2.5, which is a bit less than the four he has now.
So do you buy into Hoerner’s power surge? I don’t think anyone thinks he’s turning into Aaron Judge and his April stats certainly aren’t at slugger levels. But they are numbers that could easily lead to 20 home runs a year and maybe more. On the other hand, they could just be a hot streak and Hoerner reverts to the 7 to 10 home runs a year that he normally hits.
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CINCINNATI, OHIO - JULY 31: Carlos Carrasco #59 of the Atlanta Braves pitches during the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on July 31, 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Well, this has certainly been a busy night! It makes sense given the short turnaround between tonight’s 8-6 win for the Braves over the Nationals and Thursday afternoon’s Getaway Day game to end the series. We already got the huge news that consensus Top 100 prospect JR Ritchie would be called up to start Thursday’s game and now we’ve got a little more news to coincide with the big move.
Sadly, Dylan Dodd’s latest stint is coming to a close as he’ll be heading to the IL. In his place, the Braves will be bringing back Carlos Carrasco. Mark Bowman of MLB.com was the one who reported this news initially.
Cookie Carrasco will come up to provide a long relief option in the pen tomorrow. Dylan Dodd is going on the IL with a back or oblique strain. And in case you missed it earlier, Fuentes is going down to make room for Ritchie to start tomorrow.
Dodd ended up making two appearances for the Braves in his latest stint, where he pitched four innings and only gave up a run. He looked fine against the Nationals on Tuesday night so I’m guessing that this probably started acting up on him overnight or right after he got done pitching on Tuesday. Either way, the Braves will have to do without him for the time being.
This current Braves squad has put a premium on long relief and the hope is that Carlos Carrasco can provide any type of value once called upon. The good news is that he pitched six scoreless innings in his most recent start for Triple-A Gwinnett and he’s looked decent at that level so far. With that being said, we all know that there’s a pretty big difference between what you see at that level and what you see in the bigs and for Carrasco, he’s had a rough go of it in the bigs for the past three seasons. As long as Carrasco can eat innings when called upon, that’ll probably be all the Braves ask of him in this coming stint. We’ll see what happens!
Mar 17, 2026; Mesa, Arizona, USA; Chicago Cubs third baseman Pedro Ramirez against the Los Angeles Angels during a spring training game at Sloan Park. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
There was not a lot of good pitching today in Des Moines and the wind was steady out to left field. Starter Charlie Barnes pitched solidly anyways, giving up three runs on five hits over five innings. Two of those five hits were solo home runs. Barnes struck out five and walked two.
Tyler Santana got clobbered for five runs over just two innings, giving up two more solo home runs. Collin Snider allowed one run on two hits in the eighth inning, but he got the win when Iowa scored seven runs in the bottom of the inning. Snider walked one, hit one batter and struck out no one in his one inning of work.
Ryan Jensen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning with a strikeout in a non-save situation.
Second baseman Pedro Ramírez had two home runs and eight RBI today. Ramírez hit his first home run with a man on in the fifth inning. His second home run was a grand slam in the eighth. He also tied the game 8-8 with a two-run single in the seventh.
Ramírez went 3 for 5. The two home runs give him seven already this year. His career-high for a season is eight. The eight RBI ties a franchise record set several times, the last time by Ian Stewart in 2013.
Right fielder Dylan Carlson hit a solo home run in the fourth Raminning. He went 1 for 5.
Center fielder Brett Bateman was a perfect 3 for 3 with a double and a walk. He scored four times.
Third baseman BJ Murray doubled twice in a 3 for 4 game. He also walked one time, drove in three and scored three times.
Starter Yenrri Rojas went four innings and allowed three runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out six.
Luis Martinez-Gomez retired the side in order in the seventh, but then he came out for the eighth and got into a lot of trouble. Martinez-Gomez took the loss after giving up five runs on three hits and a walk over 1.1 innings. he also hit one batter. Martinez-Gomez did not strike anyone out.
DH Owen Ayers had his first Double-A hit in the first inning and it was an RBI single. Ayers went 1 for 4.
Left fielder Jordan Nwogu was 1 for 2 with two walks. He scored one run.
Right fielder Andy Garriola had a two-run single in the fifth that temporarily gave Knoxville the lead. He was 1 for 4.
Nazier Mulé only threw the first inning, but he took the loss after he surrendered two runs on one hit and two walks. One of the two runs was unearned. Mulé struck out one.
First baseman Cole Mathis hit a pair of doubles in a 2 for 3 night. He also walked twice and stole a base. His double in the ninth inning scored a run. Mathis scored two times himself. In just two games in High-A, Mathis already has three doubles.
Center fielder Kane Kepley was 1 for 4 with a walk and two steals. He scored twice.
Noah Edders got hammered for two runs in the first inning, two more in the second and three more in the third. He took the loss after allowing seven runs, six earned, on seven hits over three innings. Two of those seven hits were two-run home runs. Edders struck out one, walked no one and hit one batter.
Catcher Logan Poteet went 2 for 4 with a walk. He scored two runs.
Center fielder Alexey Lumpuy went 2 for 5 and also scored twice. He drove in a run with a single in the fifth inning
First baseman Josiah Hartshorn was 2 for 5 with one run scored.
Apr 22, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Justin Crawford (2) hits a sacrifice ground ball RBI against the Chicago Cubs during the second inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images | Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images
…we came in? Anyway, I saw Exit 8 a few days ago. It’s a horror film about a man who finds himself trapped in an endless, looping train station passage, returning again and again to the same place. It’s come to mind, watching the Phillies recently. There’s always an element of repetition to a baseball season, playing out every day, with variations, across the spring and summer. But the routine that the Phillies find themselves in goes beyond the typical patterns and patter of daily baseball. They are playing the same game, again and again. It has resulted in their eighth straight loss.
The Phillies went with Kyle Backhus as an opener, hoping to escape Taijuan Walker’s first-inning woes. But the woes found them nevertheless: Nico Hoerner and Alex Bregman hit seeing-eye singles, ushered through the infield by the BABIP gods, and the Cubs had runners on the corner, none out. A grounder from Ian Happ was just tough enough to prevent the double play; the Phillies got the runner at second, but surrendered an RBI.
The BABIP gods are fickle, though, their actions inexplicable to mortal minds. The Phillies, for reasons known only to the cosmos, suddenly entered into their good graces, with Felix Reyes reaching first on an infield single against Cubbie starter Matthew Boyd. Alec Bohm slapped a single to right, Sosa hit a ball against the famed ivy, not yet in full summer splendor, for a double, and the Phillies had it tied. Justin Crawford hit a little dribbler that was far from the ivy, but far enough to score Bohm. Taijuan Walker thus entered the game in the bottom of the second with the lead.
Walker’s first inning almost went cleanly. He got the first two outs with little trouble. The third should’ve come on a fly ball to Justin Crawford. But Crawford bobbled the ball. He would not get a chance to bobble the next: Pete Crow-Armstrong hit one to the wall in center for an RBI double, and the game was tied.
Like their BABIP counterparts, the gods of baseball miscues were intent on proving they do not play favorites. In the top of the third, Trea Turner hit a grounder to short, then made it to first safely when Dansby Swanson chucked it over the head of Michael Busch. But the Phillies couldn’t turn the good fortune into a reclaimed lead, and their fortune turned again when Alex Bregman hit a fly ball that bounced against the basket over Wrigley’s outfield fence, preventing Crawford from potentially catching it. The result was a leadoff triple, and then a lead for the Cubs when Happ singled. The next deep fly ball would not test one’s knowledge of Wrigley’s ground rules: Busch sent one well over the basket to put the Chicagos’ lead to two.
We weren’t quite done with questions about homers, though. Adolis García hit a deep fly ball to left, which sailed to the wrong side of the foul pole. Something fooled the umpire’s eyes, and it was ruled a homer, though there was little tension in the subsequent review and overturning. There was more tension in the next homer—Seiya Suzuki off Walker on a cutter, scoring two— though none of it came from the question of whether or not it was gone. Rather, the tension was entirely in the emotions evoked in the fractured, fractious Phillies fanbase.
The replacement of Boyd with Ben Brown didn’t help the Phillies break through; neither did putting in Bryson Stott to pinch-hit for Edmundo Sosa. Alan Rangel took over from Walker, and navigated the bottom sixth with ease. He did the same in the seventh. But the Phillies could not get runners on, and did not threaten the Chicago bullpen.
Rangel came out again for the eighth, and finally faltered, allowing a leadoff double to Moisés Ballesteros, skipping and bouncing up the first base line. A strong throw from García was not quite enough to put him out. Crow-Armstrong scored him with a bloop single that was as short as his name is long.
The Phillies faced Hoby Milner in the ninth. Bohm singled to right to begin the frame, but no more damage was done . The last out was made on a Rafael Marchán strikeout, with the final strike coming on an overturned ABS call.
Much of what can be said about tonight’s game has already been said. The story is familiar, repetitive, looped. The Phillies’ pitching allowed too many runs, the bats were too quiet, too often. Isn’t this where…
In the fourth inning, Francisco Alvarez lined a double that split the center and right fielders while Lindor was on first base. Lindor rounded third base and seemed to grimace before sliding safely feet first into home plate. Lindor went into the tunnel, but did not come out for the top of the fifth.
Bo Bichette moved to shortstop and Brett Baty came in to play third.
"We announced the calf. He’s going to get an MRI tomorrow, and we’ll see what we’re dealing with," manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. "It sucks. When you see a guy as tough as Lindor… I knew right away when he was rounding third base that something wasn’t right there. We’ll see what we got."
Mendoza confirmed Lindor will receive an MRI.
When asked if he expects it to be the same situation as when Juan Soto went down with a similar injury, the Mets skipper said he does.
"Yeah, but we gotta wait," he said. "We’re talking about a calf. We got relatively good news with Soto and still [he was out] three weeks. We’ll see what we’re dealing with."
Lindor left after going 2-for-2 with an RBI infield single in the first inning, and is one of the Mets' hottest hitters. Over his last seven games, including Wednesday, Lindor is 9-for-25 with two home runs and five RBI. That production allowed Mets manager Carlos Mendoza to move Lindor to the cleanup spot in Wednesday's game.
The injury also comes as the Mets welcomed back Soto to the lineup after their slugger missed 15 games with a calf strain. And now, the Mets, who just broke their 12-game losing streak, will have to continue without one of their best hitters.
"It’s what we’re dealing with right now. We can’t sit here and make excuses. It's all part of it," Mendoza said. "We lost Soto and we had a hard time. Now we're potentially going to be dealing with losing another really good player, and we got to figure it out. We got to find a way. But, again, we got to wait and see."
Mendoza added that Bichette would be an option at shortstop, but if Lindor lands on IL, the manager indicated the club is likely to bring up somebody with the ability to play short.
"Just finished the game, I gotta talk to David [Stearns] and see what we got with Lindor and go from there," he said. "I wouldn't hesitate if we need to play Bo there, but I am pretty sure we'll bring someone in here that is capable of playing the position as well."
Francisco Lindor has been pulled from tonight's game after grimacing rounding third on Francisco Alvarez's RBI double pic.twitter.com/wi7PGalANx
Nolan McLean’s “good citizen” move might not actually be what it seemed.
The star Mets hurler, during his start in Tuesday’s loss, patted his chest as if to say “my bad” after throwing a pitch inside in the sixth inning to Twins outfielder Byron Buxton. On the very next pitch, Buxton smacked a two-run homer.
SNY Mets analyst Ron Darling then posited that McLean was offering a small apology to Buxton — his Team USA teammate in the World Baseball Classic — that would essentially mean the next pitch would not be inside.
“McLean said, looked at Buxton, they had met eyes, said, ‘My bad, my bad. I shouldn’t do that.’ You know what happens to a hitter when he hears that? One-hundred percent, the next pitch is not going to be inside. It’s going to be away.
Nolan McLean pats his chest to express remorse to Buxton. @FoulTerritoryTV/X
“He’s a smart hitter and took advantage of it. I know what McLean’s doing. That’s being a good citizen. You don’t need to do that out there.”
Nevertheless, SNY field reporter Steve Gelbs spoke with McLean and said on Wednesday’s broadcast of the Mets’ 3-2 win over Minnesota that the pitcher was indeed apologizing, but not to Buxton. McLean was actually saying sorry to his batterymate, catcher Francisco Alvarez.
McLean told Gelbs that Alvarez had called for a backdoor sinker and missed the target and he missed his spot somewhere between 5 and 7 feet.
Gelbs also said that because McLean threw seven two-seamers across the first two at-bats to Buxton, he wanted to mix in a cutter to change things up.
Nolan McLean slams his rosin bag to the ground as Byron Buxton rounds the bases on his two-run home run during the sixth inning of the Mets’ loss to the Twins on April 21, 2026 at Citi Field. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Nevertheless, Buxton mashed the cutter to cut the Mets’ lead to 3-2.
Darling admitted on the Wednesday broadcast that he made a mistake and will apologize “personally” to McLean.
Minnesota rallied in the ninth of struggling Mets closer Devin Williams to hand the Amazin’s their not-so-amazin’ 12th straight loss.
Despite that mistake to Buxton, McLean — one of the few bright spots in Queens these days — finished the outing with 10 strikeouts and three runs allowed over 6 2/3 innings.
One day later, behind Clay Holmes’ seven strong innings and Luke Weaver’s save, the Mets snapped their 12-game losing streak.
The Mets’ losing streak has finally come to an end, but their 3-2 win came at a cost. Francisco Lindor, who drove in the Mets’ first run of the night and scored their second, left the game after the fourth inning with left calf tightness on the night that Juan Soto returned from his stint on the injured list with a calf injury of his own.
Lindor opened the scoring in the game on a two-out infield single in the bottom of the first that scored Bo Bichette, who was in the leadoff spot tonight and started the inning with a double. And after Victor Caratini hit a sac fly off Clay Holmes to tie the game in the top of the fourth, Lindor smoked a single that tipped off Twins third baseman Royce Lewis’s glove. Francisco Alvarez smoked a double into the right-center field gap, and Lindor scored—barely—from first base, as he looked to be in discomfort as he completed his run around the bases.
That was the end of Lindor’s night, and the Twins tied the game up again when Clay Holmes served up a solo home run to Byron Buxton in the top of the sixth. Holmes had a very good night, though, as he wound up going seven innings, struck out three, walked one, and gave up five hits.
After Brooks Raley and Luke Weaver combined for a scoreless top of the eighth, the Mets eked out a run in the bottom of the inning when Mark Vientos, who had blown through a stop sign at third base earlier in the game to end an inning, hit a bloop single to right field to bring home Brett Baty with the go-ahead run.
That hit helped erase a pair of baserunning mistakes by the Mets, the first of which was made by Vientos himself when he blew threw a stop sign at third base and was thrown out at home by a wide margin to end the bottom of the sixth. The other was made by Soto, who attempted steal a base against lefty reliever Taylor Rogers after hitting a single in the eighth. Instead, he was picked off and thrown out just as easily as Vientos has been earlier.
As for the ninth inning, Weaver remained in the game and struck out the side, working around a two-out infield single to finish the game and give the team a sorely-needed win.
Big Mets winner: Mark Vientos, +25% WPA Big Mets loser: Luis Robert Jr., -17% WPA Mets pitchers: +40% WPA Mets hitters: +10% WPA Teh aw3s0mest play: Mark Vientos hits an RBI single in the eighth, +29% WPA Teh sux0rest play: Byron Buxton hits a game-tying solo home run in the sixth, -17% WPA
MIAMI, FL - APRIL 21: Jordan Walker #18 of the St. Louis Cardinals takes batting practice prior to the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park on Tuesday, April 21, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Lucas Casel/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The St. Louis Cardinals will have a vexing decision to make about Jordan Walker sooner rather than later. Should they work to extend him or do they wait? There are arguments to be made that it’s worth considering, but at least an equal amount for why the team should wait.
I asked the question a few days ago on The Feed about who the St. Louis Cardinals should work to extend first. While JJ Wetherholt was the winner in a landslide, I was surprised to see that Jordan Walker was the second most popular choice.
The fact that this is even a conversation is borderline miraculous. Very few of us saw Jordan Walker starting the 2026 season in such an impressive way. Through the first 24 games, Jordan Walker is batting .292 with 8 home runs, 16 RBI’s with an OPS of .964. What’s even more remarkable to me is Jordan’s defense which has been a real eye-opener. He’s currently 2nd in the league in defensive runs saved with a +4 margin. I had to remind myself that Walker was not a natural outfielder, but was a 3rd baseman until the Cardinals began to convert him in 2022. His arm strength is becoming elite. There’s a lot to love about how far Jordan Walker has come, but there are also big reasons to pump the brakes on overreacting, too.
Before I look at the reasons why a Jordan Walker extension might be a terrible idea, let’s imagine what that contract might look like. There’s an interesting player to compare Jordan to and that’s Oneil Cruz. He signed a one-year contract for $3.3 million to avoid arbitration for the 2026 season. He’s under team control through 2028 just like Jordan Walker. He has a high-strikeout profile of around 32%. Jordan Walker’s strikeout rate was hovering around the same rate as of this week. Depending on who you ask, I’ve seen possible extensions for Cruz somewhere in the neighborhood of 6–8 years for between $100–$150 million. Cruz has elite exit velocity and a high barrel rate. The one thing that Cruz now trails Walker in is defense. Cruz is considered a massive defensive liability while Walker is more than a plus defender now. If (and that’s a big word that needs emphasis) the Cardinals were to seek an extension with Jordan Walker, I could see a deal looking very similar to Oneil Cruz.
If I were President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom, I would wait before going down the extension road with Jordan Walker. We’ve all seen some of the strikeout tendencies over the past week that look similar to the Jordan Walker we were all worried about during Spring Training and the past couple seasons. I’ve seen better decision making at the plate by Jordan Walker this season than any other previously, but I still want to see him be able to make the necessary adjustments now that opposing pitchers now recognize him as a threat. Cardinals hitting coach Brant Brown said during a pre-game interview this past week that he’s working with Jordan on his approach now that he’s producing and other teams know it. At the bare minimum, I want to see Walker successfully adjust his approach and stay productive through the All-Star break.
Waiting brings with it a risk that the price of Jordan Walker will go up exponentially if he suddenly becomes an all-star near the top of the league in home runs in addition to his now spectacular outfield arm. He could be that middle of the order righthanded bat and a vital part of the new Cardinals core for years to come. But, the possibility remains that he could regress back to the Jordan Walker that some wanted sent back to the minors before the season started. Yes, I was one of them. My vote is that we all continue to enjoy and hopefully see the ascent of Jordan Walker into the player we all knew he was capable of becoming. When and if we commit to locking him into a long-term deal will be one of the most important decisions Chaim Bloom makes – for better or for worse.
Still, the Mets will take the victory, ending their longest losing streak since 2002.
Despite blowing a pair of leads and making some ugly baserunning mistakes, the Mets got a run-scoring bloop single to right by Mark Vientos to score Lindor’s replacement — Brett Baty — for the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth.
Luke Weaver got the final four outs to seal the win, striking out Byron Buxton to end it.
“It’s a sigh of relief,’’ Weaver said. “There’s a lot more games to play. Today was a great step in the right direction and it was gonna take a game like that to get us going.”
The right-hander has a point, if the first few weeks of the season are any indication.
The winning rally began with two outs and no one on in the eighth, as Baty and Francisco Alvarez walked before Vientos — who was thrown out by a mile after running through a stop sign to end the sixth — came up with a clutch hit.
The victory, their first since April 7, moved the Mets to 8-16, but was clouded by the Lindor injury concern.
The shortstop was removed after scoring from first base on Alvarez’s double to the gap in right-center in the bottom of the fourth.
Mark Vientos hits the game-winning single in the eighth inning of the Mets’ 3-2 win over the Twins on April 22, 2026 at Citi Field. Robert Sabo for New York Post
He managed to just beat the throw home to give the Mets a 2-1 lead, but was slow rounding the bases and remained down at home plate momentarily before he got to his feet and returned to the dugout.
Lindor was removed prior to the top of the fifth, with Baty entering to play third base and Bo Bichette moving from third to shortstop.
The latest injury worry — as Lindor is set to get an MRI on Thursday — occurred just as the Mets got Soto back after the star was sidelined for 15 games with the calf injury he suffered while running the bases in San Francisco on April 3.
The Mets offense was nonexistent without Soto. They’d hoped the return of the $765 million star would turn their fortunes around — and Soto hit several balls hard Wednesday — but missing Lindor for any extent of time would also hurt.
Luke Weaver pumps his fist during his scoreless ninth inning in the Mets’ win over the Twins. Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Before he got hurt, Lindor had an RBI infield single in the first that gave the Mets an early lead after Bichette’s leadoff double.
The Twins tied the game in the fourth with a double down the right field line by Trevor Larnach to open the inning. Larnach advanced to third on a Josh Bell groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly by Victor Caratini.
The Mets went up again when Lindor came home on Alvarez’s double, but Clay Holmes couldn’t hold the lead, as he allowed a homer to Buxton — his second in as many nights — to start the sixth.
Vientos drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the inning, and Marcus Semien doubled to the wall in left.
Juan Soto rips a single during the eighth inning of the Mets’ win over the Twins. Robert Sabo for New York Post
Third base coach Tim Leiper clearly — desperately — tried to stop Vientos from heading home, but Vientos raced through the stop sign and was thrown out easily to end the inning.
It stayed that way in the top of the eighth, even after Brooks Raley and Weaver loaded the bases, as Weaver got Luke Keaschall to pop out.
In the bottom of the inning, Soto led off with a single but was caught stealing for the second out before the Mets took the lead for good on Vientos’ hit and Weaver closed it.
Clay Holmes, throwing in the first inning, allowed two runs over seven innings in the Mets’ win over the Twins. Robert Sabo for New York Post
“It’s not very often you have such a talented team where everything doesn’t click in the right way,’’ Weaver said. “It’s quite an impossible feat, but we made it possible.”
That may as well be their slogan, since no team has ever lost 12 straight games and reached the postseason.
Perhaps this win will get them going.
“Now we can concentrate on just playing baseball and not about the losing streak,’’ Carlos Mendoza said.
The Mets broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning and held on to defeat the Minnesota Twins 3-2 at Citi Field on Wednesday night, ending their 12-game losing streak.
It was the Mets’ first win since April 7.
Here are the top takeaways...
-Mark Vientos, who made a boneheaded play in the sixth inning, running through a stop sign to get thrown out at the plate, found redemption in the eighth, blooping a single to right field with two outs to drive in Brett Baty from second, breaking a 2-2 tie.
Baty and Francisco Alvarez had each walked to set up the go-ahead run. Alvarez battled in a nine-pitch at-bat against reliever Justin Topa.
Mendoza chose to have Luke Weaver close out the win, keeping him in for the ninth after Weaver got the final out of the eighth inning to work out of a bases-loaded situation.
-Juan Soto looked good at the plate in his return to action from the calf injury suffered on April 4.
He hit two hard fly-ball outs in his first two at-bats, both of them over 104 mph off the bat, then walked his third time up, and singled to right in the eighth inning off lefty reliever Taylor Rodgers.
However, Soto got nailed trying to steal second, leaving too early as Rodgers threw to first and Soto was then thrown out at second base.
-Clay Holmes gave the Mets a strong start, allowing two runs over seven innings. Holmes gave up five hits while striking out three, inducing plenty of weak contact with his nasty sinker.
Holmes continues to have a very good season. His ERA after five starts is 2.10.
The right-hander had a 2-1 lead into the sixth but left a sinker up, thigh-high, to Byron Buxton, and Buxton hammered it to left, 409 feet for a no-doubter home run.
Lindor was having a big night, with two hits in his first two at-bats, a run scored and an RBI. He appeared to feel the calf tightness as he went from first to home on Alvarez’s double to right-center in the bottom of the fourth.
Lindor scored on the play but remained in a sitting position on the ground long enough to indicate something wasn’t right. He then went into the tunnel at the end of the dugout, followed by the Mets’ trainers, and didn’t come out for the top of the fifth.
Bo Bichette moved to short to replace Lindor, while Baty entered the game at third base.
-The Mets’ new-look lineup, with Bichette leading off and Lindor hitting in the clean-up spot, paid immediate dividends with a first-inning run, as Bichette doubled and eventually scored on Lindor’s single down the third-base line.
But otherwise, runs were mostly hard to come by again for an offense that ranks among the worst in the majors in several categories.
They were also hurt by bad baserunning when Vientos was thrown out at the plate, ending the sixth inning with the score tied 2-2.
With two outs, Vientos tried to score from first base on Marcus Semien’s double to the left-center gap. Third base coach Tim Lieper put up the stop sign to hold Vientos at third, but in what can only be considered a sign of how desperately the Mets wanted a win, Vientos ran through it and was an easy out at the plate. All in all, a bad gamble considering how slowly Vientos runs.
Game MVP: Mark Vientos
Mark Vientos. Why not? Vientos redeemed himself for his base-running mistake two innings earlier by coming through with the game-winning hit in the eighth inning.
It wasn’t a rocket by any means, just 70.3 mph off the bat, but it found grass when the Mets desperately needed a hit and a win.
SAN FRANCISCO — Dave Roberts is committed to Shohei Ohtani’s health and keeping him fresh to perform both on the mound and at the plate for the long haul.
And that may look different by the day or week, depending how the two-way star is feeling.
For some games, that could mean Ohtani pitches but isn’t batting as the designated hitter — and the Los Angeles Dodgers manager plans to keep his options open.
Ohtani made his fourth mound start Wednesday night against the San Francisco Giants. A week earlier, Ohtani was held out of the lineup while pitching for the first time since 2021 because he was still sore from getting hit by a pitch.
The 31-year-old Ohtani entered with a batting average of .271, five home runs and 11 RBIs in 85 at-bats. He had allowed just one earned run over his first 18 innings of 2026 for an ERA of 0.50 and 2-0 record, surrendering 10 hits with 18 strikeouts and six walks.
Ohtani also had a career-best on-base streak of 53 games, tied for second in Dodgers history with Shawn Green. Duke Snider owns the team record at 58 games from May 13-July 11, 1954. Ohtani’s streak is the longest in the majors since Orlando Cabrera reached base in 63 straight from April 25-July 6, 2006.
“I think if you look at the overall numbers it’s certainly something. I still feel really good about putting his name in the lineup,” Roberts said. “I know the last start I chose not to have him hit and just pitch. I am open to it. We’ll see. It’s something that we’ve certainly flagged, and also you have to look at what’s the option. In years past or last year, you’ve got to kind of weigh, who’s a different option?”
Catcher Dalton Rushing has become a capable fill-in at DH. He’s hitting .414 with seven homers and 13 RBIs.
The two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers had dropped three of four after losing the series opener at San Francisco 3-1 on Tuesday night.
When Roberts spoke to Ohtani earlier Wednesday, the four-time MVP — including two-time reigning NL MVP — was “really focused.”
“He wants to reset things, to go out there and pitch well and give us a chance to win tonight,” Roberts said.
Roberts had yet to decide whether Ohtani would play the series finale Thursday. He said beforehand he had no qualms about giving Ohtani five at-bats on a day he’s pitching but would consider moving him down in the batting order if that makes sense.
“I think everything should be on the table,” Roberts said.
The New York Mets entered Wednesday less than 10 games away from the longest MLB losing streak of the 21st century. That title still belongs to the 2024 Chicago White Sox, who lost 21 straight contests during their historically bad season, and the Mets will get no closer after they defeated the Minnesota Twins, 3-2, on Wednesday night.
The victory snaps a 12-game losing streak that had plummeted the Mets to the very bottom of the standings. Mark Vientos, who had been cut down at the plate while trying to score earlier in the game, was the hero, his two-out single in the bottom of the eighth plating the winning run.
The win — which came in Juan Soto's return — was not entirely satisfactory to the reeling Mets. They saw star shortstop Francisco Lindor exit with what the team called left calf tightness.
While they hold their breath over Lindor, they can at least rest easy knowing they are winners for a night:
When did the Mets' losing streak begin?
The Mets' losing streak began after the team started 7-4. They then lost 7-2 to the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 8, which started a catastrophic chain of events that led us to where we are now.
Since then, the Mets lost another game to the Diamondbacks, were swept by the Athletics, Dodgers, and Cubs, and then dropped their opener to the Twins.
Longest losing streaks in Mets history
The longest losing streak in Mets history came during the team's inaugural season in 1962. That team not only lost a franchise record 17 straight games during the season but also had other losing streaks of 13 and 11 games.
Since the turn of the century, the longest losing streak in Mets history stands at 12 games, a tie between their losing streak coming into Wednesday night and the 2002 team, which lost those 12 consecutive games between Aug. 20 and Aug. 31 that year.
Longest losing streaks in MLB history
The longest losing streak of the 21st century belongs to the 2024 Chicago White Sox, who lost 21 straight games. However, that is not the longest such streak in MLB history. That dishonor belongs to the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies, who lost 23 straight games.
Here is a list of every team in the modern era (since 1901) to have lost at least 20 consecutive games:
NEW YORK — No sooner did the struggling New York Mets get a star player back than another one went down with a similar injury.
Francisco Lindor was removed Wednesday night against the Minnesota Twins with left calf tightness, just hours after teammate Juan Soto came off the injured list. The switch-hitting shortstop will have an MRI on Thursday, putting the top of New York’s punchless batting order in flux once more.
“Here we go again,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
New York (8-16) ended its 12-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over Minnesota, but it might have come at a cost.
“We’ve got to wait and see what we’re dealing with,” Mendoza said.
Lindor labored around the bases while scoring from first on Francisco Alvarez’s one-out double up the right-center alley in the fourth inning. He grimaced as he rounded third and paused for a bit from the seat of his pants after beating the relay throw with a feetfirst slide.
“I knew right away when he was rounding third base that something wasn’t right there. So, we’ll see what we’ve got,” Mendoza said. “Right away, he scores and you could see his face. Looking from the dugout, I knew something wasn’t right.”
Lindor headed down the dugout tunnel with an athletic trainer and was replaced in the lineup by Brett Baty, who entered at third base in the top of the fifth. Bo Bichette slid over from third base to shortstop.
Batting cleanup, Lindor knocked in a run when he legged out an infield single with two outs in the first. Moments earlier, he made an outstanding leaping grab at shortstop for the second out of the game.
Soto was reinstated from the 10-day IL earlier in the day. The slugging outfielder had been sidelined since straining his right calf while running from first to third on April 3 in San Francisco.
“We got good news, relatively good news with Soto, and it was still three weeks,” Mendoza said. “So, we’ll see what we’re dealing with.”
After a slow start this season, Lindor was starting to come on recently. He launched a three-run homer Tuesday night and is hitting .226 with two home runs and five RBIs.
“Can’t sit here and make excuses. It’s all part of it. We lost Soto, and we had a hard time,” Mendoza said. “Another really good player, and we’ve got to figure it out.”
NORTH PORT, FL- FEBRUARY 22: JR Ritchie #92 of the Atlanta Braves pitches during a spring training game against the Minnesota Twins on February 22, 2026 at CoolToday Park in North Port, Florida. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
At the end of the recap for tonight’s 8-6 Braves win over the Nationals, I mentioned that the process of getting through that game pitching-wise brought up some questions as to how they would deal with Thursday afternoon’s game. As it turned out, the Braves will be dipping into their prospect pool again in order to bring up one of the hottest prospects in the organization.
The 35th overall pick from the 2022 MLB Draft will be making his big league debut on Thursday night, as JR Ritchie has reportedly received the call and will be starting on Thursday afternoon against the Nationals.
The Braves are calling up No. 2 prospect JR Ritchie to start tomorrow against the Nationals. Ritchie ranks 71st overall on the most recent @BaseballAmerica Top 100 list.
The move makes sense, primarily because Ritchie will be making this start on regular rest. He’s also been lights out for the Gwinnett Stripers in Triple-A so far, as he’s made five starts and tossed 27.1 innings while only giving up three earned runs compared to 28 strikeouts. He’s sporting an ERA of 0.99 and a FIP of 3.66 at that level and with the rotation being in a tough spot, the time has come for Ritchie to make a spot start.
According to Mark Bowman of MLB.com, the Braves will be sending Didier Fuentes right back down to Triple-A in a corresponding move. The Braves have a tiny bit of room to add Ritchie to the 40-man roster without designating anybody for assignment so that should be the official move once it’s eventually announced by the club itself.
For now, it’s time to get excited as we’re going to see what Ritchie has to offer at the big league level. He’s certainly coming up in a challenging spot as this Nationals roster is tough to deal with and it’s on relatively short notice. With that being said, this is why the Braves drafted him this high and he’s looked great as he’s made his way through the minors. There’s a reason why there’s a lot of anticipation to see what Ritchie can do at this level and Thursday afternoon will be his big chance.
(@Masterflip_) 
