Category: Baseball

For the first time in seven opportunities this season, all four Dodgers affiliates won on the same day.

Player of the day

Wyatt Crowell put up more zeroes for Double-A Tulsa, with seven strikeouts in five scoreless innings against Springfield. It was the second appearance of the season for the left-hander, who pitched three scoreless frames against San Antonio on April 4. Crowell struck out four in a row at one point, including all three in the second inning.

Nothing but K's for Wyatt Crowell to finish the 2nd inning 👏 pic.twitter.com/MC6cH6MLDp

— Tulsa Drillers (@TulsaDrillers) April 11, 2026

Crowell, the Dodgers’ fourth-round draft pick out of Florida State in 2023, walked 15.2-percent of his batters faced in his first two professional seasons. But so far this year, he’s walked only three of 33 batters faced (9.1 percent), to go with 10 strikeouts.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Ryan Ward hit a three-run walk-off home run to erase a two-run deficit and lift the Comets over the Round Rock Express (Rangers) in a wild game.

RYAN WARD OMG! pic.twitter.com/Kwmh4TnPf6

— Oklahoma City Comets (@OKC_comets) April 12, 2026

Ward had three hits on the night and stole a base. Austin Gauthier also had three hits, including a double. Ryan Fitzgerald had two hits, including a double.

River Ryan allowed three doubles in a row in a first inning that also included a walk, a hit batter, two runs scored, and needed 36 pitches to complete. He retired seven of his final eight batters faced to get through three innings without any further damage. Ryan struck out four on the night, and threw 56 total pitches, just 20 over the final two frames.

It’s been a rough go so far this season in the Pacific Coast League for left-hander Logan Allen, who allowed only one run in his first three innings of relief but ran out of gas in the seventh. He allowed two singles and two walks before getting pulled with one out, and all of them scored during the frame. Allen this season has faced 59 batters, and 28 of them have reached (19 hits, nine walks) for a .475 on-base percentage and only six strikeouts.

Double-A Tulsa

Zyhir Hope blew open a low-scoring affair with a three-run home run in the sixth inning to give the Drillers the breathing room they needed to beat the Springfield Cardinals.

Hope’s home run was not only against a left-handed pitcher, but was also hit to the opposite field.

The #Dodgers No. 2 Prospect, Zyhir Hope, blasts his FIRST home run of the season! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/kiRkBRqrh2

— Tulsa Drillers (@TulsaDrillers) April 12, 2026

High-A Great Lakes

The Loons scored in five different innings to beat the West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers).

Third baseman Logan Wagner had three hits, including a double, and scored three times. Center fielder Charles Davalan also doubled, part of a two-hit, two-run game. Designated hitter Jose Meza reached base four times with two walks, a double, and single, with two RBI. Shortstop Jose Izarra homered.

Zach Root needed 32 pitches to record only two outs in his start, pulled with the bases loaded in the first inning. He allowed only one run, thanks to Dilan Figueredo inducing a groundout to strand three runners. Figueredo followed with three perfect innings of his own, earning the win with his 10-up, 10-down performance, including two strikeouts.

Class-A Ontario

Four Tower Buzzers pitchers combined to shut out the Inland Empire 66ers (Mariners), with 10 strikeouts and no walks.

Isaac Ayon, the Dodgers’ 18th-rounder from 2024 out of Oregon, pitched four scoreless innings with four strikeouts, allowing only a pair of singles. Logan Lunceford got the next five outs, with two strikeouts of his own, followed by Robby Porco getting five outs.

Jecsua Liborius earned the save by striking out all three batters in the ninth. He has retired all 10 batters he’s faced this season with eight strikeouts, seven weeks shy of his 21st birthday.

Easton Shelton on Saturday was designated to hit, and that he did, driving in both Ontario runs, with a second-inning double and solo home run in the seventh.

Transactions

Triple-A: Pitcher Chris Campos was activated off the injured list after missing a week and a half, and had a rocky first game back, allowing three of his six batters faced to reach, giving up an unearned run and allowing both inherited runners to score. Right-hander Jordan Weems was placed on the development list.

Saturday scores

• Oklahoma City 10, Round Rock 9
• Tulsa 5, Springfield 3
• Great Lakes 9, West Michigan 4
• Ontario 2, Inland Empire 0

Sunday schedule

• 11 a.m. PT: Great Lakes (Christian Zazueta) at West Michigan (Gabriel Reyes)
• 11:15 a.m.: Tulsa (Payton Martin) at Springfield (Brandt Thompson)
• 12:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Jackson Ferris) vs. Round Rock (Austin Gomber)
• 2:05 p.m.: Ontario (TBA) at Inland Empire (Jackson Steensma)

Saturday saw all four affiliates in the Atlanta Braves system in action, as the teams earned a split on the day. The biggest highlight on the day had to be the Brett Sears scoreless outing, but we also saw Juan Mateo return from injury, Lucas Braun throw five solid innings, and both John Gil and Tate Southisene reaching base multiple times.

Gwinnett Stripers 4, Nashville Sounds 3

• Aaron Schunk, 3B/1B: 2-2, 2B, 2 BB, R
• Rowdy Tellez, 1B: 2-4, 2B, R, RBI
• Lucas Braun, SP: 5 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
• Hayden Harris, RP: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Box Score

Statcast

This was a back and forth affair with Nashville taking one run leads and Gwinnett tying the game up from there, until the Stripers were able to break the cycle with a walkoff win in the 10th inning. Lucas Braun got the start and pitched five solid innings, giving up a pair of runs on eight hits and a walk. He also recorded five strikeouts to go with a game-high 13 whiffs. Tayler Scott got the next inning and two thirds, allowing a run, before a scoreless inning and a third from Hayden Harris. Ian Hamilton came on for the ninth and 10th innings, not giving up a run, and picking up the win. Combined the Stripers pitching staff allowed three runs on 11 hits, three walks, and 11 strikeouts with 23 whiffs – good enough to claim four of the top five spots on the game’s whiff leaderboard despite not recording any of the game’s top five velocities.

Offensively the Stripers had six guys combine for nine hits, with Aaron Schunk, Rowdy Tellez, and Brett Wisely each having two-hit nights. Schunk also added two walks, meaning he reached base in all four of his plate appearances in this one. Schunk, Tellez, and DeShawn Keirsey Jr. picked up doubles as well, the team’s only extra base hits. Cal Conley was promoted just in time for this game, and came off the bench as a pinch runner, getting caught stealing home in the bottom of the eighth.

Columbus Clingstones 6, Montgomery Biscuits 2

• Drew Compton, 1B: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
• Adam Zebrowski, C: 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB
• Brett Sears, SP: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K
• Blayne Enlow, RP: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

Box Score

Brett Sears took the ball for the start and tossed six and a third shutout innings on Saturday night. Sears allowed just four hits and a walk, striking out six and picking up 13 whiffs. He was commanding it well in this one, throwing 61 of his 84 pitches for strikes. Blayne Enlow followed and didn’t allow a run during his inning and two thirds. Ryan Bourassa came in for the ninth, and gave up a pair of runs to put an end to the combined shutout.

This was a pretty complete performance by the offense, as seven starters picked up at least one hit and eight reached base safely. Five Clingstones ended up with multi-hit games in this win, including Drew Compton, Kevin Kilpatrick Jr., Luke Waddell, Tristin English, and Jordan Groshans. Compton and Adam Zebrowski each connected on homers, with Compton’s being a two-run shot and Zebrowski’s being a solo, while Kilpatrick recorded a pair of doubles and a steal. Waddell and Lisandro Espinoza each added doubles in the win as well.

Bowling Green Hot Rods 7, Rome Emperors 6

• Eric Hartman, CF: 1-4, 2B, R, RBI, SB
• John Gil, SS: 1-2, BB, 2 RBI, SB
• Cade Kuehler, SP: 3 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 2 K
• Ian Mejia, RP: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

Box Score

Cade Kuehler got hit early on in this one, giving up three runs in the first and two more in the second. He lasted just three innings, allowing the five runs on four hits and four walks. Ian Mejia came in for the next two innings, and while he did allow two runs, he also picked up four strikeouts and 11 whiffs in those two innings. Cory Wall pitched the next two innings without giving up a run, before giving way to Logan Samuels. Samuels walked the first batter he faced in the bottom of the eighth inning, but the game was called at that point, so he only faced one hitter.

Despite those five early runs against them, the Rome offense did a good job of fighting back to stay in the game. Once again John Gil and Eric Hartman headlined the performances for the offense, as Hartman doubled, batted in a run, scored once, and stole a base. Gil singled, walked, batted in two runs, and also stole a base. Colby Jones and Dalton McIntyre each had two-hit nights, with each scoring a run plus McIntyre batting one in. Among the other prospects here, Owen Carey was hitless in two at bats, but drew a walk and scored twice. Cody Miller went hitless in four at bats, striking out in each one.

Delmarva Shorebirds 7, Augusta GreenJackets 4

• Tate Southisene, 2B: 0-3, 2 BB, R
• Juan Mateo, 3B: 1-2, BB, RBI
• Zach Royse, SP: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
• Carter Lovasz, RP: 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K

Box Score

This one featured all pitchers from the 2025 draft class for Augusta, along with one undrafted free agent from last year as well. Seventh rounder Zach Royse was the starter, and he had a rough first inning allowing three runs, before rebounding and pitching better for the rest of his night. Overall Royse allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks to go with three strikeouts and 11 whiffs. Next came 19th rounder Ryan Heppner, who allowed two runs in his inning and two thirds, though he did induce nine whiffs. Eighth rounder Carter Lovasz was next, and he allowed a run over two innings of work, picking up three strikeouts and seven whiffs. Undrafted free agent Drew Christo pitched a scoreless frame to finish this one off.

The big story offensively had to be the season debut for Juan Mateo, who just returned from the injured list. The versatile infielder got the start at third base and went one for two with a walk and run batted in, before being removed from the game – something the Braves often do with guys making their return from injury. Nick Montgomery’s solid start to the year after really struggling here last year continued on Saturday, as he recorded a double in four at bats. Last year’s first round pick Tate Southisene was hitless in three at bats, but did draw a pair of walks and scored a run. Alex Lodise and Conor Essenburg were each hitless in four at bats, with Essenburg striking out four times and Lodise three of his own.

Reminder: I’m on vacation all this week and will be a little briefer than usual and one or more pieces could be delayed. Thanks for your patience.

If you’re not one of my longtime readers, this is a great jumping-in point. By about the third inning Saturday, I saw the season declared as over, the team described as garbage and had officially muted my first Cub-focused Twitter user of the season. I don’t have any interest in gloom and doom. Any time I’m looking for that, I can dial into the outside world. Baseball is where I go to unwind and have fun.

For me, the strangest thing that I’ve learned in my time blogging about baseball over the last 10 years is what a significant part of the fan experience doom and gloom is for some portion of the fanbase. Is it frustrating when the Cubs have a pitcher throw six no-hit innings and end up losing anyway? Absolutely. Is it a compound wound when for four innings the next day they haven’t scored? Yes, it is.

I saw one person post in the comments to Game 13 how much this reminded them of 2025. That’s a fair comment. That’s the concern. But I’m certainly not giving up on this team before the weather even warms up. This team benefits greatly from the long ball and it doesn’t help when that is suppressed. Both teams play in those conditions, but not all teams have nine or more players who could legitimately hit double digit homers. They had eight do it last year with their third catcher at nine and Nico Hoerner at 7. I feel like their whole regular nine less Hoerner but possibly also Matt Shaw are legit double digit homer guys. Miguel Amaya or Michael Conforto might challenge double digits with enough playing time.

When the Cubs did play in the dome in Tampa, the ball was jumping and they did win two of three. So I’m going to wait before I rule this team buried. This has been a frustrating stretch. Every season for the best and worst teams includes frustrating stretches. Keep the faith.

Three Positives:

• Moisés Ballesteros was two for two before being lifted from the game. He’s been one of the most productive bats in the early going. I’m not sure I want to see him instantly lifted every time a lefty comes in. I know sometimes a bat gets overexposed when getting extra playing time. But I’d lean a little heavier and see where that point is.
• Alex Bregman had a pair of hits including a game-tying RBI single in the ninth.
• Hoby Milner has been terrific so far. He faced the top of the order in the ninth inning and worked a perfect inning, giving the team a chance to tie in the bottom of the inning.

Game 14, April 11: Pirates 4, Cubs 3 (8-6)

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

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Daniel Palencia (.308). IP, 4 BF, 0 H, BB, 0 R, 0 K
• Hero: Alex Bregman (.196 ). 2-6, RBI
• Sidekick: Nico Hoerner (.075 ). 1-6, RBI

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Seiya Suzuki (-.440 ). 1-4
• Goat: Ian Happ (-.235 ). 0-5, BB
• Kid: Matt Shaw (-.183). 0-1

WPA Play of the Game: Alex Bregman’s game-tying single with two out in the bottom of the ninth. (.468)

*Pirates Play of the Game: With first and second and two outs in the 11th, Brandon Lowe batted with runners on first and second. He reached on an error and the go ahead and eventual winning run scored. (.331)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 13 Player of the Game: Shōta Imanaga received 121 of 123 votes.

Up Next: In the third and final game of the series, Jameson Taillon matches up with Bubba Chandler.

Here’s your weekly injury notes! Must be Sunday! The Mariners guaranteed at least a split of the four-game series against Houston with a thrilling walk-off win to celebrate Humpy shoulder plush night to get to 6-9. The Mariners can secure an important series win today at 1:10 with Logan Gilbert on the mound. Happy Sunday everybody!

In Mariners news…

• Lance Brozdowski broke down how some teams are training their pitchers to add more cut to their fastballs by making subtle differences to their throwing motion, and used the Mariners and Emerson Hancock as heavy focuses in the study to show the effectiveness these changes can have.

• Easy game.

Tonight the @Mariners:

faced a 5+ run deficit but still won
got outhit by 10 or more but still won

No MLB team had done both in the same game since the Indians against the Yankees on July 27, 1932. pic.twitter.com/AxsGWbhqxr

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) April 12, 2026

Around the league…

• The Astros continues to hemorrhage pitchers at an alarming rate. Tatsuya Imai flew back to Houston to get his right arm examined after he only recorded one out on Friday against the Mariners.
• The Toronto Blue Jays have another star player with a broken digit! George Springer fouled a ball of his foot in yesterday’s game that broke the big toe on his left foot. I’ve broken a toe. Not fun!
• Orioles infielder Ryan Mountcastle was removed from yesterday’s game after he took a tumble on his way into second base and will be getting an MRI today.
• Lookout Landing’s own Ryan Blake took an in-depth look at the correlation between ambient temperature and swing speed.
• The Mets are calling Craig Kimbrel up to the majors.
• If you ever feel like you’re an impostor and aren’t qualified for the work that you do, remember that there are people with no background in economics who get paid to write up economic impact reports for new stadium projects.

When the Yankees famously purchased Babe Ruth from the Red Sox in 1919, there was always going to be someone who’s playing time was massively cut, if not erased at all. As it happens, that fate mostly fell on Sammy Vick.

Vick’s career prior to Ruth’s acquisition wasn’t especially notable, and it wasn’t anything especially great after then. However, in making way for Ruth and then another move involving him later, he helped shape the first Yankees dynasty.

Samuel Bruce “Sammy” Vick
Born: April 12, 1895 (Batesville, MS)
Died: August 17, 1986 (Memphis, TN)
Yankees Tenure: 1917-20

Vick was one of four children born to farmers Hugh and Lillie. He was born and raised in Mississippi, and attended Millsaps College. Unlike a lot of the people we write about in this birthday pieces, he apparently didn’t play much baseball as a youth, as he was said to have learned the game while attending Millsaps. However, he was apparently quite athletic, as he played several sports in college in addition to picking up baseball.

Despite getting to baseball late, Vick apparently picked it up quickly. By 1917, he had signed a deal with the minor league Memphis Chickasaws, and would soon rise even faster. He absolutely hit the ground running in Memphis, hitting .322 in 126 games. By the end of the season, he was already getting looks from MLB scouts, and the Yankees acquired him in July. On Baseball Reference, he’s listed as having been traded from Memphis to New York. One player that went the other way is future Hall of Fame pitcher Dazzy Vance, which the team would probably later wish they could undo.

After Vick’s season in Memphis concluded, the Yankees brought Vick up to the big leagues for a September cup of coffee. He walked in his first MLB plate appearance and singled in the next in a pretty nice debut. He ended up appearing in 10 MLB games in 1917, putting up right at league average numbers. In 1918, Vick appeared in two games before joining the military to serve in World War I.

Vick returned for the 1919 season and ended up as the team’s regular right fielder. He ended up appearing in 106 games in ‘19, although a 83 OPS+ wasn’t much to write home about. However after the season, the Yankees purchased Ruth from the Red Sox in probably the most well known baseball trade of all time. It also left Vick in a fourth outfielder role. Adding to that was that another young outfielder named Bob Meusel also debuted during the 1920 season. He still ended up playing over 50 games for the 1920 Yankees, but was quickly falling down the pecking order.

One thing of note that happened for Vick in 1920 was getting into a fight with manager Miller Huggins after a game in Cleveland. While you might expect that played a role in Vick’s diminished playing time and eventual departure, Huggins thought the incident was a good thing, as the manager had thought Vick was too shy and timid and not capable of that type of emotion.

Despite that, Vick was headed for a departure after the season, as the team thought had he never lived up to his potential and now had a couple better players. The following December, the team made another deal with the Red Sox, sending Vick to Boston as part of a nine-player deal. This one would also go in the Yankees’ favor as the most notable mover in the trade was pitcher Waite Hoyt, who became an ace for the team as they finally got over the World Series championship hump.

An injury delayed Vick’s Boston debut until June, and he never really got going in 1921, posting a .594 OPS in 44 games. He was eventually sold to the minor league Toronto Maple Leafs (a baseball team, they didn’t make him learn hockey), and he never returned to the majors. Vick continued playing in the minor leagues through 1930, mostly playing for teams in the south near his Mississippi birthplace.

In the years following his baseball career, Vick did some work as a teacher and also bought a farm. He eventually passed away in Memphis in 1986 at age 91.

In a way, Sammy Vick helped set the stage for the first dynasty in Yankees’ history. It just wasn’t in a way he himself might have hoped.

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See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

Dodgers 6, Rangers 3

• One batter into the game, things were looking good for the Rangers.
• Pretty quickly after that things stopped looking good.
• After looking very good in his first two outings of the season, Jack Leiter hit a speed bump in the first inning against the Dodgers.
• On the positive side, Leiter struck out the side swinging in the first. On the negative side, he allowed a solo home run to Shohei Ohtani to lead off the inning, a line drive single to Will Smith, a walk to Freddie Freeman, and a two out, three run homer to Teoscar Hernandez. The Teoscar bomb gave the Dodgers a 4-1 lead, which ended up being all the runs they would need in the game.
• That first inning cost Leiter 30 pitches. He had an 18 pitch second inning, a 28 pitch third inning which saw him load the bases on a single and a pair of walks (but give up just one run due to getting Hernandez to hit into a GIDP), and then needed 16 pitches to retire two of the three batters he faced in the fourth.
• 93 pitches to get 11 outs is not ideal.
• Tyler Alexander did good work to get the Rangers through the sixth, Robert Garcia threw a scoreless seventh despite issuing another walk, and Chris Martin gave up another run in his one inning of work.
• And the bats? Brandon Nimmo was 3 for 4 with a double and a pair of homers. The rest of the team was 1 for 27 with two walks.
• Texas did still manage to get the tying run to the plate with one out in the ninth thanks to a Corey Seager walk and Jake Burger reaching on an error. Andrew McCutchen struck out, though, and with Evan Carter due up, the Dodgers brought in lefty Alex Vesia.
• It was a rather unpleasant reminder of the problem that the Rangers find themselves in when Carter is due up in a big spot late. An opponent can bring in a lefty to face Carter, and Skip Schumaker either has to take his chances with Carter, who, as is well-documented, has been helpless against lefties in his career, or go to his bench.
• With Wyatt Langford unavailable due to his quad strain, the only hitter left on the bench was Danny Jansen. Schumaker went with Jansen, who struck out to end the game.
• Had the Rangers tied it up, Andrew McCutchen would have had to have gone from DH to the outfield, meaning the Rangers would have lost their DH spot. And the outfield would have been Sam Haggerty, Brandon Nimmo and Andrew McCutchen, which seems…less than ideal.
• Jack Leiter’s fastball maxed out at 98.6 mph, averaging 96.7 mph. Tyler Alexander reached 91.8 mph with his fastball. Robert Garcia touched 95.5 mph with his fastball. Chris Martin’s fastball reached 95.5 mph.
• Brandon Nimmo’s home runs were 105.7 mph and 105.5 mph. Josh Smith had a 104.4 mph ground out. Josh Jung had a 103.mph single. Evan Carter had a 101.5 mph ground out. Jake Burger had a 101. mph ground out.
• Let’s see if they can salvage the finale.

Well the Braves had a bit of a dud on Saturday night, but reinforcements are making their way to Atlanta, as Spencer Strider and Sean Murphy will be on minor league rehab assignments this week. They will also be without Michael Harris and likely functionally Eli White for a few days, as Michael Harris tends to the birth of his child and Eli White tends to a foot injury. They should also be getting Ha-Seong Kim back in a month or two, which should help. Despite the suboptimal game on Saturday, the team has performed pretty well this year, even if the results have been a bit wonky as compared to the performances in various aspects of the team. There is a decent chance that the beginning of the season could be the low point of the season in terms of player availability, so having a strong start is encouraging. Hoping its only upward from here.

Braves News

The Braves had a dud of a night, particularly on offense, on Saturday night, losing 6-0 to the Guardians.

Spencer Strider will begin his rehab assignment this week, but is expected to take a few weeks to ramp back up and arrive in Atlanta. Eli White is also day-to-day with a foot issue.

The Braves called up Luke Williams to take Michael Harris’ spot, as Michael hits the paternity list.

MLB News

The Orioles placed Adley Rutschman on the 10-day IL with an ankle issue, calling up a catcher from double-A to take his place.

Wyatt Langford will take a step back in playing time for a couple days with a minor quad strain.

Tatsuya Imai is dealing with arm fatigue in his pitching arm, as he returned to Houston for evaluation.

The Mets are calling up Craig Kimbrel to join their active roster.

German Marquez was not sharp in his start against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park on Saturday night. The former Rockies ace who was facing his former team for the first time, allowed three home runs and Colorado held a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third inning. In years past, the game would have been over essentially before it started, but this San Diego Padres team went to work. San Diego put up three runs in the bottom of the third inning after Manny Machado hit a two-run home run. The Padres added three more runs in the fourth when leadoff hitter Ramon Laureano hit a three-run home run to put San Diego ahead 6-4. But the Padres did not stop there. They added another run in the bottom of the sixth on a bases loaded walk to push the score to 7-4 and Jackson Merrill broke the game open with a two-run double through the middle of the infield with the bases loaded to give San Diego a 9-4 lead. The Padres would allow the Rockies to add another run to make the score 9-5 and with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the ninth inning, Stammen had to call on Jason Adam to get the final out and slam the door shut.

Padres News:

• The San Diego Padres wanted to bring back Luis Arraez, but he wanted to play second base. The Padres could not guarantee Arraez playing time at his preferred position, so he became a member of the San Francisco Giants. Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ball says without contact-heavy Arraez at the top of the lineup, San Diego is working to find a new offensive identity.

• Craig Stammen did not have the best start to his managerial career, but it was not all bad either. Respondents who took part in the Padres Reacts Survey this week on Gaslamp Ball believe Stammen has earned a middling grade to this point in the season.

• Fernando Tatis Jr. found himself in a new position in Stammen’s lineup on Saturday night – second base. Xander Bogaerts got the night off, so Jake Cronenworth bumped to short and Tatis Jr. came in to man second base, while Nick Castellanos filled the hole in right field.

• Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union Tribune focuses his attention on Padres closer Mason Miller and his historic start to the 2026 season. Dennis Lin of The Athletic also focused on Miller and asked the question, “Can he be the first reliever since 2003 to win the Cy Young?”

• Griffin Canning continues his rehab work in the minors, while some of the top prospects in the San Diego system get in on the action.

• Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune provided some notes on the night that was on Friday, including Walker Buehler, Jason Adam and Jeremiah Estrada and the run of bad luck that has befallen Tatis Jr.

Baseball News:

• Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez became the first player in the organization’s history to have a home run against each of the 29 other teams.

• Former Padres pitcher Michael Wacha is off to a scorching hot start to the season and continued his success with eight scoreless innings Saturday.

• The Tampa Bay Rays did not need to hit the ball far to get what they needed to get a walk-off win on Saturday.

• Reliever Craig Kimbrel is returning to the MLB as a member of the New York Mets.

• Houston Astros pitcher and one of the top free agents this past offseason Tatsuya Imai is returning to Hoston for an exam after experiencing arm fatigue on road trip.

• Adley Rutschman lands on 10-day IL and Ryan Mountcastle leaves the Baltimore Orioles game against the San Francisco Giants early with a foot pain.

Here's what happened in Mets Land on Saturday, in case you missed it...

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• Kodai Senga was hit hard, Luke Weaver allowed four late runs, and the Mets fell to the A's 11-6 for their fourth straight loss
• Command was a big issue for Senga, with manager Carlos Mendoza saying after the game that he "just didn't have it"
• It's been a rough start to the season for Francisco Lindor, who made another uncharacteristic mental error in Saturday's game
• The Mets DFA'd Richard Lovelady and called up Craig Kimbrel, who looked sharp in his debut with a pair of strikeouts
• Good news on the injury front, asClay Holmes is in line to make his next start after leaving Friday's game with hamstring tightness
  

The Detroit Tigers came into the weekend riding a five-game losing streak, including a four-game sweep at the Minnesota Twins. On Sunday, with their ace on the mound, the team has a chance to complete their reversal of fortune by sweeping the Miami Marlins at home.

AJ Hinch’s squad took the first two games of the series, 2-0 and 6-1, respectively, but earning that third victory will not be easy. Sunday’s pitching matchup is a marquee one: twice-consecutive Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal takes the mound for the home team, while the 2022 Cy winner Sandy Alcantara is up opposite him.

Here is a look at how the two match up.

Detroit Tigers (6-9) vs. Miami Marlins (8-7)

Time (ET): 1:40 p.m. ET
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site: None
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 16: LHP Tarik Skubal (1-2, 2.55 ERA) vs. RHP Sandy Alcantara (2-0, 0.74 ERA)

Player	G	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	FIP	fWAR
Skubal	3	17.2	22.5	2.8	42.3	2.44	0.5
Alcantara	3	24.1	20.9	4.7	49.2	2.32	0.9

SKUBAL

ALCANTARA

If you are going to sit there and tell me you have not been entertained by the St. Louis Cardinals so far this year, I would have to check your pulse. Whether it was JJ Wetherholt homering in his debut then walking off one game later, Jordan Walker sitting at the top of every offensive leaderboard, or the team in general sitting above .500, the Cardinals have been a fun, yet frustrating watch early in the 2026 season.

Heading into the weekend against the Boston Red Sox (traveling this weekend so have to get this scheduled before the series), the Cardinals entered the series with a 7-5 record that could easily be 3-9 or 9-3 depending on which bullpen showed up that day. Entering the year with a somewhat trustable back end of the pen, it seemed that the relief corps could be an underrated strength for the team, as long as they got into the late innings with a lead. Turns out, that was not the case.

Should the Cardinals pay for bullpen support if they compete for the NL Central this year?

At the beginning of the season, I pointed out how the Cardinals once again made minimal investment into their relief corps. A year after signing Phil Maton to the team’s lone major league deal in 2025, Chaim Bloom enlisted the help of reliever Ryne Stanek to bolster an untested bullpen with a $3.5 million contract, along with a $6 million club option for the 2027 season (if it happens). Stanek was projected to work with JoJo Romero at the back of the bullpen before each of them are ultimately traded this year. Now, just a few weeks into the season, maybe the Cardinals should pump the brakes and revisit that bullpen set up.

Firefighter Matt Svanson has been anything but, although he did have a solid performance his late time out. To really nobody’s surprise, Chris Roycroft was downright awful before getting demoted, and I don’t want to hear how he got soft-contacted into bad luck because the eye test backed up him getting hammered. Justin Bruihl is just John King with a different name, and Jared Shuster was just called up to fill the spot vacacted by Roycroft. Rule 5 pick Matt Pushard is on the IL with a knee issues, but got hit hard in his one outing prior to the “injury”.

Putting big financial commitments into the bullpen is something that teams shy away from unless they have an elite closer or lockdown late-inning arm. The same holds true for the Cardinals, with everyone outside of Stanek still playing on their arbitration contracts. That is not really a bullpen alignment that is set up for success, especially when we assumed that Stanek and Romero were going to be dealt at the deadline if not sooner. In order to get the best out of Stanek, he will have to hone in his command, walking five batters and allowing seven hits in just 5.2 innings of work, but all five runs he has allowed came in just two games. Romero has been solid, but he is taking on the stopper role, rather than closer, as he has pitched in the sixth, seventh, and eighth inning this year. Gordon Graceffo has been sort of a final option when the game has been close, and he has been effective in 4.2 innings while being helped by his defense a couple times. George Soriano, who was acquired in the Andre Granillo trade, has made an impression with a couple stellar outings sandwiched between some mediocre ones. The most consistent has been Riley O’Brien, a sentence that probably was not expected to be said at any point this year as ROB has typically struggled with command and health so far in his big league career. Through the first 12 games, he has yet to walk a batter or allow an earned run and has already picked up three saves.

So back to the question at hand. If the Cardinals are near the top of the division and in striking distance as the season continues, should they revamp the bullpen?

As a fan, I always want the Cardinals to win. I want them to go 162-0 and win their 12th World Series title. But, as a realist, I also understand that the team is not in their competitive window just yet. I will compare them to the Chicago Bears from last season, so if you’re not a Bears fan (I’m not either, I just live in the Chicago area), skip to the next paragraph. Coming into this last year, the Bears were going through their own transition season, changing head coaches and leadership while trying to bounce back from a couple tough years. Then, they overachieved big time, winning the NFC North and advancing in the playoffs. As the season progressed, their roster holes showed up and fans were clamoring for their GM to go out and add a high-cost superstar who could help them win the Super Bowl. The reality of it, though, is that the Bears were not just one player away and really just in the beginning of their process, so like Chaim Bloom says, all moves (or non-moves) should be future-focused first rather than the short-term as the goal is to build a strong foundation. That is how I see the 2026 St. Louis Cardinals.

It is 12 games in, yes, but they have probably already surpassed some preseason expectations and have started to build some optimism among the fanbase who now feel that this team will not actually battle the White Sox for the worst record, which I was informed was the plan multiple times by many social media GMs. The reality is, this team was never built to be bottom of the barrel. The lineup featured major league hitters and the rotation had arms with a track record. It was not like the Cardinals were planning to give Johnny Nobody 500 at-bats and 30 starts on the mound. The goal was always see what their current crop of talent could do in order to see who will be around for the future.

Because of this, giving up long-term assets for a short-term bullpen game would be illogical for this iteration of the Cardinals, unless the entire lineup continues putting up Jordan Walker numbers and the rotation is full of top-three arms. Because of the implausibility of that, any success this season should truly just be basked in by the fanbase as we get a glimpse towards the next great Cardinals team already taking the field in St. Louis. Bullpen arms rise in costs as the deadline approaches and with more teams able to qualify for the playoffs, the price will continue to go up. The shift I would be okay with for Bloom and the Cardinals, would be to just hold onto Romero and Stanek, as long as they keep producing like late inning arms. With relievers though, it would likely be in best practice to hold true to the plan and get whatever they can from those two relievers and see where the season takes us.

What do you think? Memphis shuttle? Dumpster dive? Make a splash? Let me know!

Thanks as always!

Saturday’s game against the Rays was not pretty viewing for Yankees fans. The Yankees held two separate late leads against Tampa Bay, but couldn’t hold onto either. In the 10th inning, the Rays took advantage of the auto-runner and bunted the Yankees to death, eventually scoring twice in the frame to overtake the Yankees.

With the Yankees now firmly in their first annoying stretch of the 2026 season, let’s see what the competition around the AL did in Saturday’s games.

Minnesota Twins (8-7) 7, Toronto Blue Jays (6-8) 4

The Blue Jays only actually allowed the Twins to score in one inning of the game. The issue is that inning was a seven-spot, which was plenty enough to doom Toronto.

The Jays started the game decently enough, as Daulton Varsho hit a two-run homer in the first to give them the lead. However, things flipped in a hurry a couple innings later.

In the third, Brooks Lee led off with Minnesota with a homer, but Toronto starter Eric Lauer then recorded an out. It would be a while before he got his next one. The next five Twins’ batters all reached base, with Josh Bell giving them the lead with a two-run single. Lauer then finally got the second out, but Trevor Larnach responded with a three-run homer to break the game open.

On the mound, Joe Ryan mostly cruised for the Twins, allowing just two those runs on two hits in seven innings. The Blue Jays picked up a couple runs off Minnesota’s bullpen in the ninth, but it was too little, too late. Further worrying for Toronto will be that George Springer suffered a fractured toe after fouling a pitch off his foot. As of last night, he was undergoing further scans to see what the severity and what the next steps were going to be.

Boston Red Sox (5-9) 7, St. Louis Cardinals (8-6) 1

The Red Sox used a five-run ninth to get some separation and pull away from the Cardinals, who had previously threatened to rally.

For much of the game, Willson Contreras’ two-RBI double in the fourth inning held up as the lone run-scoring moment. Red Sox offseason signing Ranger Suarez was looking the part for them, as he allowed just three hits in six scoreless innings. The Cardinals’ pitching wasn’t terrible themselves, as those two runs were the only they had allowed for much of the game, despite other chances for Boston.

In the bottom of the eighth, Jordan Walker got St. Louis on the board with a homer, however that would be the extent of their rally. The Red Sox responded with five runs on six hits in the top of the ninth to take any drama out of the ninth inning.

Seattle Mariners (6-9) 8, Houston Astros (6-9) 7

J.P. Crawford’s walk-off single allowed the Mariners to come all the way back after trailing by as many as five runs.

The game featured some wild swings early. Initially, the Mariners took a lead in the bottom of the first, but the Astros immediately responded with seven runs over the second, third, and fourth innings. However, Seattle then put up a five-spot in the fifth to climb all the way back, with Julio Rodríguez finally getting in the home run column to tie the game up.

The game remained tied going into the ninth, despite the Astros recording 17 hits on the game. The Astros’ Bryan Abreu got the first out of the bottom of the ninth, but then proceeded to walk the bases loaded. Crawford then dropped a single into left field, allowing the Mariners to get the walk-off win.

As mentioned, the Astros had plenty of chances, but they finished the game with 13 runners left on base.

Other Games

• Detroit Tigers (6-9) 6, Miami Marlins (8-7) 1: The Tigers scored five runs over the first three innings and never looked back in a win over the Marlins. On the mound, Casey Mize gave Detroit 5.2 solid innings, allowing just one run. On offense, Riley Greene led the way, driving home four runs and going 2-for-3 with a walk.

• Cleveland Guardians (9-6) 6, Atlanta Braves (9-6) 0: Cleveland’s Parker Messick allowed just four hits and two walks in 6.2 shutout innings and the Guardians cruised past the Braves. José Ramírez gave the Guardians a lead with a homer in the third at-bat of the game, and they never looked back from there, as Messick dominated and Cleveland slowly and surely added to their lead.

Columbus Clippers 7, Worcester Red Sox 0

Clippers improve to 8-3

All the metrics had been saying Kahlil Watson’s improved approach was going to lead to results and they proved prophetic Saturday as Watson had one of the best games of his MiLB career, going 3-for-4 with two home runs, a triple a walk and a stolen base.

That didn't take long…

Kahlil Watson goes yard AGAIN! https://t.co/ReVvjuEnRCpic.twitter.com/1vVyGTx45i

— GuardsInsider (@GuardsInsider) April 11, 2026

Travis Bazzana also had a monster game, going 2-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored while Nolan Jones also homered.

Starting pitcher Rorik Maltrud was sensational, tossing 6.0 shutout innings on just two hits with four strikeouts and one walk.

Rorik Maltrud in his first Triple-A win:

6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R/ER, 1 BB, 4 K🔥 pic.twitter.com/7NnCwJWW98

— GuardsInsider (@GuardsInsider) April 11, 2026

Dane Heuer, Franco Aleman and Steven Perez all followed with a scoreless inning of relief apiece, allowing just one hit while whiffing four combined.

Akron RubberDucks 11, Harrisburg Senators 3

RubberDucks improve to 5-3

Akron’s offense teed off for 11 runs on 14 hits Saturday, led by Wuilfredo Antunez, who went 3-for-5 with his second home run of the season and a triple.

Also having a huge game was Ralphy Velazquez, who blasted his second bomb of 2026 while going 2-for-5 with three runs batted in and two runs scored.

Ralphy Velazquez keeps on raking!

MLB's No. 82 prospect (@CleGuardians) clubs his second homer of the year to raise his slash line to .360/.448/.680 through seven games for Double-A @AkronRubberDuck. pic.twitter.com/beCIy6Wkb4

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 11, 2026

Nick Mitchell reached base safely twice, going 2-for-4 with a walk while Alex Mooney went 1-for-4 with a double and a walk and both Angel Genao and Jake Fox both went 2-for-5, with Genao also walking. Alfonsin Rosario doubled and was hit by a pitch.

Starting pitcher Cam Favors was outstanding, allowing one run on just one hit in 5.2 innings pitched. He struck out eight and walked three.

Matt Jachec closed out the victory with two scoreless innings.

Lake County Captains 0, Dayton Dragons 5

Captains fall to 3-5

There wasn’t much to say with this one. Lake County’s offense was practically nonexistent once again. No one reached base safely twice, although Garrett Howe and Jaison Chourio both doubled.

Starting pitcher Rafe Schlesinger was the tough-luck loser, giving up two runs on three hits in 4.0 innings with four strikeouts and two walks. He also hit three batters.

Cam Schuelke was the standout out of the bullpen, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings of relief.

Hill City Howlers 8, Fredericksburg Nationals 4

Howlers improve to 5-3

Hill City erupted for eight runs on eight hits with nine walks.

Catcher Tyler Howard went 2-for-3 with two walks. Jose Perela went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk and Luis De La Cruz went 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.

Dauri Fernandes walked twice with a stolen base and Jonathan Martinez walked, was hit by a pitch and stole two bases.

Starting pitcher Harrison Bodendorf was terrific, tossing 4.2 shutout innings of two-hit ball while striking otu nine and walking just one. The 6-foot-5 22-year-old southpaw who was a 10th round pick out of Oklahoma State last year just entered my radar.

Detroit Tigers’ starter Justin Verlander is eligible to be activated from the 15-day injured list on April 16, but Verlander and the Tigers will take their time before talking about a date for a return. The long-time ace and future Hall of Famer was moved to the injured list on April 4 with left hip inflammation. However, the move was retroactive to April 1, meaning he could theoretically return on Thursday at Comerica Park against the Royals. Manager A.J. Hinch told reporters before the Tigers victory over the Marlins on Saturday that a quick return isn’t in the cards.

Speaking to reporters after a Verlander bullpen session that reportedly went very well, Hinch said that it was still too soon to think about a timeline to activation. He also said that Verlander will at least need one rehab start or simulated game to stretch out fully before the Tigers consider taking him off the injured list. It’s possible that he could start a game for the Toledo Mud Hens sometime late this week or into next weekend, and then be on track to return during the Tigers’ home series against the Milwaukee Brewers from April 21-23.

Expect the timetable to be pushed back even a little further. If Verlander is going to rehab with the Mud Hens this week, he’d have to do so on the road in Louisville against the Bats. I suspect that the Tigers would consider that a sub-optimal spot for such an outing. Obviously a 43-year-old legend in the sport isn’t going to be taking the bus down to Louisville with Max Clark and the boys, but even on his own travel arrangements, the setting isn’t ideal.

The Tigers will want their own people with him to ensure everything in Verlander’s workouts and preparation go smoothly on start day. I’m not familiar enough with the Louisville Bats to evaluate their facilities, but the Cincinnati Reds affiliate is presumably somewhat less equipped than the Hens facilities after the Tigers and their affiliates put a lot of time and money into modernizing them over the past half decade. Much simpler to let Verlander stay in Detroit and simply drive down to Toledo on start day, prepare, pitch, and return immediately to Detroit for the usual post-start treatment and recovery protocols.

The Hens will return to Toledo on April 21 against the Omaha Storm Chasers, and that six-game set is probably more when we should expect a Verlander outing if they decide it’s worth giving him a Triple-A rehab start rather than just throwing bullpens and getting in a simulated game. Such an outing would no doubt be very well attended, and the Tigers would prefer their affiliates get a nice day at the box office rather than the Louisville Bats.

Of course, the crucial part of these considerations is the fact that Keider Montero has pitched well in two starts in Verlander’s stead. The 25-year-old right-hander has so far banished some of the control issues that plagued him in his first two seasons in the major leagues. After pitching for Team Venezuela in the WBC this spring, Montero never really got stretched out in the final weeks of spring training, and the Tigers kept his first outing for the Hens, as well as his two starts with the Tigers, on a short leash. Still, he’s thrown the ball well and shown maturity as in a pitcher in terms of course correcting when things start to go wrong in an outing.

Montero has allowed just two earned runs in 10 1/3 innings of work so far, and while it’s a very small sample, his walks are way down and his strikeouts are up. He’s looked very much in command of his game, and no doubt his performance has the Tigers wanting to see more before they’re faced with the tricky decision of how to proceed once Verlander is 100 percent. Montero’s success means there’s no rush to decide anything, but on the other hand, if he continues to pitch like this you can’t really send him down either, so the decisions do get tricker.

As I’ve said before, the reason for signing Verlander in the first place wasn’t nostalgia or overconfidence in his strong second half for the San Francisco Giants last year. Adding Verlander only cost the Tigers $2 million this season, allowing them to add starting depth without going over the luxury tax by deferring most of Verlander’s $13 million total. The penalties for going over and potentially losing revenue sharing funds would also hurt their draft pick compensation in 2027. This was just an opportunity to add depth into a pitching staff that doesn’t have much in the way of optionable members, knowing full wel that Verlander isn’t going to make 25-30 starts for them this season.

Adding Verlander gives them an additional usable starter without going over the threshold, but it also allows them a fair amount of flexibility. Plenty of teams make stashing an injury prone, but still effective veteran starter a regular feature of their offseason roster builds. A 43-year-old pitcher, no matter that he’s a freak and the greatest arm talent of the last quarter century in this case, is still 43 years old. Injuries aside, just to continue pitching at the game’s highest level takes a lot of work with the Tigers’ strength and conditioning staff, as well as with their physical therapists. It’s presumably rare that there’s literally nothing wrong physically, and that provides opportunities for the Tigers to give him stints on the injured list as needed, making sure that Verlander is only taking the mound when he really feels his best, while enabling them to use Montero or any other young starter who is pitching well.

In essence, you’re stashing an extra starting pitcher on the roster, knowing full well that you’ll never get 30 starts from them, and will instead have some flexibility in how that veteran starter and his replacement, Montero in this case, are deployed. That’s pretty useful depth, espcially early in the season when pitcher arm injuries are rampant. Later on in the season, the Tigers may have help coming in the form of Troy Melton or other young pitchers currently on the injured list. Right now, they need to succeed with what they’ve got. Of course, you can’t just hold a guy on the injured list forever with nothing wrong with them, and this is a lot simpler when the veteran starter isn’t a franchise legend. There may well come a point where some really difficult decisions have to be made. For now though, an issue is pretty easily massaged by stretching out Verlander’s rehab work.

So for now, stretching out Verlander’s timetable makes all the sense. If they have him throw bullpens this week, and then schedule a rehab start with the Hens somewhere in the 21-23rd of April, it allows Verlander to make such a start while still under the eye of the Tigers training staff, and pushes the decision on what to do when he returns off toward the end of the month.

Montero could then make another three starts while Verlander rehabs before the Tigers have to decide what to do with them both, and maybe two Verlander rehab starts are required, particularly if Montero is still pitching well. A lot can happen in a few weeks time during a baseball season that might make the longer term decisions simpler.

A.J. Hinch said it's too soon to think about an activation timeline, as Verlander will still need a rehab start or a sim game.

"This is a huge step for him today with a high-intensity bullpen. Then we’ll evaluate after that what’s next."

— Evan Woodbery (@evanwoodbery) April 11, 2026

The first few weeks of the season are over and the Phillies continue flirting with .500. They haven’t played well overall, which might lead some to feel like the beginning of the end is nigh. We all know that core groups go through a prime and a downturn, but no matter all the data that is available in the world, it’s not possible to know exactly the point when a team will begin their decline.

It’s arguable that the Phillies have begun that slide, yet they have managed to win more games each year since 2017 (excluding the 2020) season, so that negates that argument to an extent in the macro. Down to a more granular level, some players are clearly entering the decline phase of their careers while others are still in the midst of their prime or perhaps even in the early stages of it.

That brings us to today’s question of the day: how is the team trending right now? Have they begun the downward slide that many teams eventually face, or are they still in the midst of a championship window? Is it possible that it’s both? Might they even be able to find greater heights than they already have? It’s debated often enough that it’s worth a day long discussion here.