Who will win Reds vs Pirates today: Reds moneyline (+116)
The Cincinnati Reds will send Brady Singer to the hill tonight, and he’s held the Pittsburgh Pirates lineup to a .234 average across 77 at-bats. Singer has also allowed three runs or fewer in each of his last three starts. In his last road outing, the righty allowed three earned to the Minnesota Twins across six innings of work.
The Bucs are hitting just .244 against right-handers, and they’ve dropped five games in a row. Pittsburgh was just swept at home by the St. Louis Cardinals. Mitch Keller has given up seven earned runs across his last two outings at PNC Park.
While he’s held the Reds to a .220 average in 118 at-bats, Cincy is playing good baseball right now, and their 10-3 road record is very impressive. The Pirates are just 8-9 at home.
COVERS INTEL: Mitch Keller has struggled in night games, posting an 8.00 ERA across two starts.
Reds vs Pirates Over/Under pick: Over 8.5 runs (+100)
Both starters have pitched quite well lately, giving their respective teams a chance to win. However, neither has been completely lights out, and both bullpens have been shaky over the last week, giving up numerous runs in the middle and late innings.
Also, the Over has comfortably hit in back-to-back meetings, with both games finishing 8-3. The Bucs were atrocious on the hill against the Cardinals, allowing 10 or more runs in two of the three contests – at home.
The Reds are a very good team on the road, and whether it’s against Keller, the Pittsburgh bullpen, or both, they will add to the Pirates’ misery with a solid offensive performance.
Quinn Allen's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets:9-9, -4.45 units
Over/Under bets:10-8, 0.48 units
Reds vs Pirates odds
Moneyline: Cincinnati +114 | Pittsburgh -126
Run line: Cincinnati +1.5 (+183) | Pittsburgh -1.5 (+158)
Over/Under: Over 8.5 (+101) | Under 8.5 (-116)
Reds vs Pirates trend
The Cincinnati Reds have hit the Moneyline in 10 of their last 13 away games (+8.65 Units / 66% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Reds vs. Pirates.
How to watch Reds vs Pirates and game info
Location
PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
Date
Friday, May 1, 2026
First pitch
6:45 p.m. ET
TV
Apple TV
Reds starting pitcher
Brady Singer (2-1, 4.97 ERA)
Pirates starting pitcher
Mitch Keller (2-1, 3.18 ERA)
Reds vs Pirates latest injuries
Reds vs Pirates weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 01: Carlos Correa #1 of the Houston Astros reacts after hitting a home run in the fifth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Daikin Park on April 01, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Houston Astros/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The last time we took a broad look at the “upside down” standings was two weeks ago, when the MLB season was at the 1/8th mark. This weekend marks the 1/5th mark, 20 percent of the way through the season. Out of all 30 teams, here are the bottom six:
It’s a good reminder that, as much as it doesn’t seem that way based on recent events, Boston isn’t the only city whose baseball team has greatly disappointed thus far. And possibly the most appalling tidbit in that screenshot is that the Red Sox are just 3.5 games out of the playoffs as we enter the month of May.
Remember the first week of the season when the Astros handily swept the Red Sox in Houston, and it looked like Boston wasn’t even in the same league as the team they were playing? They then went on to lose nine of their next ten, including being swept by the (not terrible) Rockies. The Astros have a worse record than the Red Sox this season.
We see the Astros again this weekend, and they are 4-12 on the road on the season. Their injured list includes pitchers Hunter Brown, Tatsuya Imai, Cristian Javier, and Josh Hader. It includes shortstop Jeremy Pena and outfielders Joey Loperfido and Jake Meyers.
Houston’s pitching is the worst in all of baseball this season, with a team ERA of 6.08, almost a full run worse than the next team (Washington – 5.11). The bullpen ERA of 6.63 is particularly alarming. The Sox will face Mike Burrows (6.25 ERA), Spencer Arrighetti (2.00), and a new addition to the rotation in Kai-Wei Teng (2.75) in this series. As a team, Houston is walking batters at an MLB worst 13.7%. Take a strike this weekend, will ya?
Which of these teams, the Astros or the Red Sox, has been the bigger disappointment thus far? What about throughout the entire league? (The answer is probably the Mets.) Discuss in the comments and enjoy the weekend!
TAMPA, FLORIDA - MARCH 21, 2026: Eric Hartman #64 of the Atlanta Braves hits a single during the second inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the New York Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 21, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
We are closing in on the end of the first full month of the season in the minor leagues, meaning some of the Atlanta Braves prospects have seen their stock change a bit since the end of spring training. This is a good chance to take a look at who has seen a change in their stock in April. You will notice that Didier Fuentes is not on this list, which is because I don’t think he has done anything to change his stock significantly either way since his outstanding spring training.
I did not include undrafted prep infielder Yamvier Carrero, due to playing just eight games so far in Augusta, but he is going to be a player to watch going into May. Dalton McIntyre is also a guy to note, after he struggled last year as well as in five games with Rome this year, but he has done very well in his first 10 games with Augusta and could be a guy to follow in May.
Stock Up
Ethan Bagwell, SP – Ethan Bagwell might be in Augusta for the third straight year, but coming into his second full professional season he had only made 11 starts there combined – 10 coming last year. Bagwell came into the year needing more innings after posting a 2.88 ERA, 0.98 WHP, and a 5.4 K/9 over exactly 50 innings here last year. So far so good, as he has already gone nearly half of last season’s innings total (22 IP) with a 3.27 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Just as importantly he has been missing bats at a much higher rate, seeing last year’s 5.4 K/9 turn into a much nicer looking 8.6 this season – this is the second consecutive year where this has happened in Augusta, as Rayven Antonio made a similar jump last year with this coaching staff. Bagwell, who will only be age-20 all season, is looking like a more complete pitcher this year and a candidate to get bumped up to Rome at some point in the fairly near future.
Logan Braunschweig, OF – A ninth round senior sign out of UAB last year, Braunschweig has been consistently productive for Rome to open this year. He is hitting .300/.432/.417 with a homer and four doubles in 75 plate appearances, with 14 walks to 16 strikeouts. He’s an older player (already age-23) without a lot of power, but he makes great contact and has been regularly hitting the ball hard. He will need to keep proving himself as he moves up the ladder, but he could be playing himself into being a candidate for a future fourth outfielder type of prospect.
Conor Essenburg, OF – Although he has only played in eight games due to an injury that presently has him out, the Braves overslot fifth round pick from last year has looked great in the action he has seen. Essenburg has hit .207/.395/.414 with a double, triple, and homer in 38 plate appearances, to go with nine walks and 17 strikeouts. Beyond just the results, he had been taking good at bats and hitting the ball hard. That’s all you can ask for considering he is a kid out of high school making his professional debut, let alone that this is his first time focusing on just hitting after being a two-way star in high school. While the lack of games played will temper some of the excitement, it is still enough for a slight up arrow after the first month of play.
John Gil, SS – Gil finished last year with Augusta and a short stint in Columbus with a bit of a power spike, but it was a small sample size. We know he looked good there again this spring, and starred in the Spring Breakout Game, but he has continued his success in April. To date he is slashing .291/.388/.468 with three homers and a total of eight extra base hits. Gil is doing his part to prove the power gains that we saw over a short window last year are here to stay, and combined with his speed and on base ability, he is positioning himself to move up our next list of Braves prospects.
Luis Guanipa, OF – While Guanipa is starting out in Augusta for the third consecutive season, that’s mostly because injuries have ruined his last two years. He has been red hot to open the year, slashing .314/.351/.523 with four doubles, a triple, and four homers to go with a perfect 16 for 16 in stolen bases and five walks to 10 strikeouts in 97 plate appearances. Most importantly is the four homers in 21 games, which come after hitting just three homers in 87 combined games over the last two seasons – and matching his total in 46 games played in the DSL back in 2023. If the power spike can continue going forward, Guanipa could find himself moving significantly up the Top 30 list at midseason, as the lack of power in the last two seasons was as much of an issue with him dropping as his lack of health and production.
Eric Hartman, OF – A 20th round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, Hartman spent pretty much all of last year in full season ball – though did miss a little time injured, and was able to slash .248/.344/.374 with five homers and 26 extra base hits in 83 games. He got promoted to High-A to open this year, and has been on a month long tear, slashing .299/.378/.644 with eight homers and 13 extra base hits through 22 games played. Hartman not only has seen a spike in his power, but with a full year of pro coaching under his belt just looks more comfortable at the plate, and the results are showing that. Hartman, who is still just age-19 until mid-June, might end up forcing his way to Double-A before his 20th birthday if he can keep hitting like this.
Jim Jarvis, INF – Following a strong showing in spring training, Jim Jarvis has been a machine for the Gwinnett offense, slashing .324/.444/.477 with five doubles and four homers through 29 games. Add in nearly as many walks (22) as strikeouts (24) and the fact that he’s 14 out of 16 in stolen base attempts, and he’s just been filling up boxscores. This was a guy with a .652 OPS in Double-A with the Tigers before coming over for Rafael Montero at the deadline last year as a bit of an afterthought. Fast forward to not even a year later, and he’s now going to get a shot to earn a shot at the big leagues any time a spot opens considering his production and versatility.
David McCabe, 1B – McCabe seemed to be on the right track after the 2023 season, before Tommy John surgery essentially robbed him of his 2024 season. That meant he needed a bit of a bounce back last year, and he got it in Columbus, slashing .286/.379/.434 with 10 homers in 105 games – though that comes with a bit of an asterisk, as the power still wasn’t what you would like for a first base/DH. Fast forward to this season, and while he is back in Columbus, the power has started to emerge. He is slashing .273/.385/.610 with eight homers through his first 20 games played. It is important to remember that since he is already 26-years-old, a promotion back to Triple-A could be in the cards fairly soon for him. If McCabe can continue to bring the power to go with his quality on base ability, he could still end up as a potential future Braves roster option.
Nick Montgomery, C – An overslot fifth round pick out of high school in 2024, Montgomery was an exciting power hitting catcher that many had high hopes for last year. Unfortunately last year was abysmal, as he spent the entire year in Augusta and slashed .170/.272/.252 with five homers and 42 walks to 119 strikeouts in 356 plate appearances. He has rebounded in a big way so far, slashing .268/.415/.537 with three homers and 11 walks to 13 strikeouts in his first 53 plate appearances. With how poorly last year went, it would have been easy for Montgomery to lose all of his confidence – but he put in the work and seems to be turning things around. He dropped out of the Preseason Top 30 Braves prospects, but if he keeps this up he will comfortably find his name on the midseason list.
Rolddy Munoz, RP – While it might feel like Munoz or his brother Roddery have been in the Braves system forever, he is still just 26-years-old and in the midst of a breakout in Gwinnett. Rolddy has appeared in nine games, going 11.1 innings, and pitching to a 0.00 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, and 10.3 K/9. His dominance has also helped to limit base hits, as he has allowed only four all season. Munoz did pitch two innings in a game for the Braves this year as well, though those results were a bit more mixed. Munoz might be establishing himself as one of the first options should the Braves need to add a reliever.
JR Ritchie, SP – The now 22-year-old has finally been promoted to the big leagues and held his own in a pair of starts there. He was dominant in five starts with Gwinnett, posting a 0.99 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and 9.2 K/9 with just a 4.9 H/9 across 27.1 innings there. In his starts against the Nats and Tigers he has pitched to a 2.92 ERA and 1.30 WHIP with 10 hits, six walks, and 11 strikeouts over 12.1 innings of work. Though he has been a bit prone to the home run, allowing two in his big league debut, and one more in his next outing, Ritchie is already proving himself as a competent big league pitcher as a rookie. The only real question for him is how he will be able to handle left handed hitters, who are slashing .294/.385/.588 with all three homers, while he has held righties to a slash of .000/.083/.000 – though only had 12 plate appearances against them.
Tate Southisene, INF – Last year’s first rounder has been excellent to open his first full professional season. He is presently hitting .271/.442/.494 with three doubles, two triples, four homers, 19 steals, and 20 walks to 27 strikeouts in 113 plate appearances. Southisene is doing everything, and has made great strides from the .219/.242/.297 slash line he put up in 15 games here last year. He is performing like a guy who could earn his way up to Rome at some point this year.
Dixon Williams, OF/INF – When I made this list initially, I wasn’t going to include Williams – just due to the fact that injury has limited him to only nine games so far. However with three hits, including a homer, in the final two days of the month, plus a recent game in center field, Williams earned a spot. He’s slashing .250/.368/.531 with three homers, and with the power and versatility on display, he is making himself someone to watch in this Braves system.
Stock Down:
Nacho Alvarez, INF – Coming into the year Alvarez had a pretty consistent track record. He may have struggled to hit in the big leagues, but he had hit at every stop in his minor league career – until this past month. To date he is hitting just .224/.299/.294, and his only extra base hits are six doubles. This is a guy who has never had an OBP lower than .381 at any stop in his minor league career, who is almost 100 full points below the lowest mark of his career to go with the fact he hasn’t been hitting for power. It might be reaching the point where if the Braves needed to bring someone up, Jim Jarvis may get the call over Nacho.
Landon Beidelschies, SP – The Braves sixth round pick out of Arkansas last year, Beidelschies has had a tougher year adjusting to Low-A competition than you’d expect out of a guy coming from the SEC. He has pitched to a 10.22 ERA, 2.43 WHIP, and 12.4 K/9 in 12.1 innings of work. Add to that the fact his stuff hasn’t been looking like what the Braves were hoping for when they invested in him during last year’s draft, and there is definitely cause for concern. There is still time, considering he is still just 22 and in his first year of professional baseball, but it’s a stock down for the first month.
Lucas Braun, SP – Lucas Braun has made a total of five starts, with four coming in Gwinnett and one with Columbus, totaling 24.2 innings. His 4.38 ERA and 1.42 WHIP are a bit inflated by one tough start with Columbus, but they aren’t awful numbers either way. The reason he is finding himself here is the fact he simply isn’t missing enough bats this season, particularly against Triple-A hitters. His K/9 is 6.2, but drops to just 5.9 in his four Gwinnett starts. Although this is a small sample size, it is in line with the 5.2 rate he posted in 19 innings across three starts for the Stripers last year, giving him a combined 5.5 K/9 in 39 Triple-A innings. For a pitcher who is going to need to survive on his pitchability more than his raw stuff, his strikeouts were never going to be huge at the big league level – but that is still a massive drop off from his Double-A 9.4 rate.
Hayden Harris, RP – Last year was a great year for Harris, who posted a 0.52 ERA and 0.75 WHIP with 13.7 K/9 between Double-A and Triple-A. That was enough to get him to the big leagues to make his debut late last season, though it was a short run in Atlanta. He followed that up with five solid outings in spring training this year, though was sent down surprisingly early before the cut down to the Opening Day roster. Things haven’t gone as well for him so far this year, as he is pitching to a 6.75 ERA, 2.08 WHIP, and 13.5 K/9 through his first 12 innings. Relievers are notoriously inconsistent from year to year, but for a guy who is already age-27, Harris needs to get the ship righted quickly considering he is on the 40-man roster.
Cade Kuehler, SP – A second round pick in 2023, Kuehler is coming off of missing last year injured. The results have not been pretty, as he has a 7.45 ERA, 2.02 WHIP, and 7.0 K/9 in 19.1 innings – and that’s after five and a third scoreless innings on the final day of the month. Making things even tougher for him is the fact that his stuff hasn’t been the same stuff we saw out of him in 2024 with Augusta – and that stuff was already below the stuff he had shown in college. It’s too soon to write off a guy in his first year back from surgery, but Kuehler is now firmly outside of the Braves Top 30 prospects based on the results and stuff.
Jhancarlos Lara, RP – This spring had to be disappointing for Lara, who many were projecting to help the Braves at some point this year. That would be because after spending the last few months in Gwinnett last season, he was sent back to Double-A to open his season. The disappointment has continued there, as he is currently pitching to a 13.50 ERA, 3.00 WHIP, and 13.5 K/9 through 6.2 innings. Command really hasn’t been his friend this year, as he has already walked 16 hitters in those 6.2 innings. Lara’s stuff is still elite, but he isn’t presently looking like a guy who could help the Braves this season.
Alex Lodise, INF – The overall results haven’t been ugly for the Braves second round pick from last year, but it’s more about what I’m seeing out of him than his stat line. He’s slashing an acceptable .260/.336/.410 with three home runs, even if it’s only in Augusta – despite 25 games with Rome after signing last year. However the cause for concern is with the swing and miss and the way he will chase pitches out of the zone, leading to 31 strikeouts in 113 plate appearances. If Lodise is chasing and racking up a 27.4% strikeout rate in Low-A, it’s hard to see how he will be able to hit enough against better, and more advanced pitchers as he moves up the ladder. Luckily for hm the Augusta staff is excellent at working with hitters with this issue, so all hope isn’t lost – it’s just that he is presently seeming less likely to reach his ceiling than he was before.
Cody Miller, INF – An underslot third round pick by the Braves last year, Miller posted a .905 OPS in 10 games with Augusta and .779 OPS in 16 games with Rome after signing last year. He was headed back to Rome to open this year, and with his proven hit tool he was seen as a guy who could potentially move quickly. That has not happened, as he is currently slashing just .169/.253/.289 with two homers and four doubles. Miller is striking out a lot (32 in 118 PA) while only walking a limited amount (8), and he isn’t having great results when he puts the ball in play either. There is plenty of speed and there is some pop in the bat, but he is going to need more work with his hit tool than initially anticipated.
Owen Murphy, SP – Expectations were high for Murphy coming into the year, considering it was his second year back from Tommy John surgery. Getting his first taste of the upper minors in Double-A, he has pitched to a 6.10 ERA and 1.79 WHIP, though has 11.8 K/9 in 20.2 innings. His stat line however isn’t the only reason he’s here, as his stuff just hasn’t taken the step forward that many were hoping for this year. Murphy is still going to be 22-years-old all season, but it is concerning to see his stuff play this way at the Double-A level.
Jose Perdomo, SS – Perdomo isn’t on this list because of what he has done on the field, rather for the fact that this is the third straight year where injuries have ruined his season. He was limited to just eight games in the DSL back in 2024, got 54 injury effected games in the FCL last year, with a .544 OPS, and has just two games played for Augusta this year – and isn’t expected to return soon. It’s a disappointing blow for the former high profile international free agent who came into spring training in the best shape of his life. I guess if you are looking for a positive, it would be that he will spend all of next season at just age-20 – but it’s hard to bank on him being healthy with his track record.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 28: Josh Jung #6 of the Texas Rangers hits a runs scoring single against the New York Yankees during the ninth inning at Globe Life Field on April 28, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Texas Rangers are 31 games into the 2026 season, and having closed the book on the month of April,* I think it is a worthwhile time to take a look at how the Rangers hitters have fared so far.
* Idiomatically, when we discuss the month of April in regards to the MLB regular season, we also include the few days when games are played in March. Similarly, when we talk about September, we also mean any regular season games in October. Baseball language is weird sometimes.
Big picture-wise, there is once again a fair-sized split in our Fangraphs measures the team’s offense and how Baseball Reference does. Fangraphs has the Rangers, as a team, with a wRC+ of 95, which is tied for 21st in the majors. B-R has the Rangers’ team OPS+ at 105, which is 9th in the majors.* If you average the two out you’d end up at 100, which is, by definition, league average. So you can say that the Rangers’ offense has been above average, average, or below average so far this season, depending on how you want to measure things.
* As a reminder, the split between FG and B-R is mainly due to the difference in park factors they apply to the Shed. B-R’s park factors have the Shed has extremely pitcher-friendly for its 2026 calculations, while FG has the Shed as more neutral.
One thing to also keep in mind is that the Rangers have played a very difficult schedule in the early going. So far in 2026, the Rangers have, per Power Rankings Guru, played the most difficult schedule on MLB.* ESPN has the Rangers playing the third-toughest schedule so far this season. 25 of the team’s 31 games have come against teams with a 110 ERA+ this season or better, with the other six coming against Baltimore (101 ERA+) and the Phillies (91 ERA+).
* The flip side of the difficult early schedule is that they show the Rangers as having the second-easiest schedule the rest of the way.
Below is a chart with each player’s xwOBA, wOBA, and the difference between the two numbers. All data is from Statcast.
That is…not really surprising, for the most part? Brandon Nimmo and Josh Jung are raking. Jung appears to benefitting from a little bit of good fortune, though his xwOBA is still barely behind Nimmo for second on the team among those with significant playing time.
Corey Seager is not off to a great start, even considering his xwOBA is 20 points higher than his wOBA. His biggest issue right now is that his K rate has spiked — he’s striking out over 25% of the time, compared to an 18.1% career K rate. Evan Carter’s expected numbers are also about 20 points higher than his actual wOBA.
What really jumps out to me here is the dichotomy between Josh Smith and Ezequiel Duran. Smith has gotten off to an awful start to the season, while Duran has been putting up great numbers — Duran’s wOBA is almost 100 points higher than Smith’s so far this season.
In terms of xwOBA, however, Smith has actually out-performed Duran by 11 points. Smith’s wOBA is almost 50 points below his xwOBA, while Duran’s xwOBA trails his wOBA by almost 60 points.
Looking a little closer at their numbers, Duran is striking out more often than Smith (20% to 18.4%), while Smith has a 13.3% walk rate compared to Duran’s 9.2% walk rate. Fangraphs has their line drive rates as being almost identical, and has Smith with a hard hit rate higher than Duran.
Despite that, Duran has a .356 BABIP and .136 ISO, compared to a .242 BABIP and .024 ISO for Smith.
There’s been talk about Duran possibly eating into some of Smith’s playing time at second base, due to Duran’s hot start and Smith’s early struggles. When we drill down on their underlying metrics, though, Duran’s case for more playing time weakens.
The bottom two Rangers in terms of both wOBA and xwOBA are Andrew McCutchen and Sam Haggerty, two guys who are here as short-side platoon bats. This certainly helps explain why the Rangers have had so many issues against lefthanded starting pitchers this year.
The Lake Elsinore Storm became the first minor league affiliate to sweep a series this season and now have a winning record going into a tie for first in their division. The Low-A team, boasting many of the 2025 draftees of the Padres, has had many surprise players surge in the last couple of weeks. Two undrafted free agents join a couple of the top-rated draft prospects to form the nucleus of an offense that has heated up for the Storm.
Both starter Griffin Canning and reliever Yuki Matsui are reaching the ends of their rehab windows and will be joining the San Diego Padres soon. Canning should be fully built up and must be activated by Monday. Matsui has pitched in back-to-back games and has completed a two-inning appearance. He will join the Padres by this weekend.
Sung-Mun Song was the 27th man for the Mexico City Series but returned to El Paso after debuting with the Padres as a pinch runner. A brief glance at his numbers would make many wonder why he has not been brought up to the major league team. A little deeper look shows major concerns with barrel and hard-hit rates. He has almost no slug, has not stolen a base and has an alarming K-rate.
El Paso Chihuahuas (12-15 record with a 4-2 record in their last series, 3rd in Pacific Coast League East)
Outfielder Samad Taylor leads the team with a .325 average; infielder Pablo Reyes has a .438 OBP while outfielder Jase Bowen is tops in both slug .625 and OPS .968 and has seven homers. Infielder Jose Miranda leads with 18 RBI. The depth of the talent sitting in Triple-A is reassuring if reinforcements are needed for the Friars. The only real concern is that Bowen has 28 strikeouts in his 96 at-bats, a 29% K-rate.
RHP Evan Fitterer has started four games out of the six games he has appeared in and has a 1.23 ERA in the 14.2 innings pitched. Reliever Garrett Hawkins, who is on the 40-man roster, has a 2.08 ERA in 8.2 innings pitched. Griffin Canning has had four appearances (fifth should be in the books on Tuesday) with a 5,40 ERA in 10 innings.
San Antonio Missions (5-16 record that makes them last in Texas League South)
The Double-A Missions are having a difficult time so far this season but there is a big bright spot for Padres fans. Catcher Ethan Salas is heating up of late and is leading the team in OPS at .859 and slug at.481 and that includes two homers.
1B/DH Leandro Cedeno has only played in 10 games but is hitting .333 with a .415 OBP. Infielder Carson Tucker continues to hit, batting .317 in 13 games and has four stolen bases without being caught. He has an .806 OPS and .391 OBP.
Starter Miguel Mendez is on the 40-man roster and has started four games with a 3.68 ERA in 14.2 innings but had a rough start his last time out. Reliever Andrew Moore has a 1.29 ERA in five games and 7.2 innings and Eric Yost, who has made one start in his four games, has a 1.32 ERA in 17.2 innings.
Fort Wayne TinCaps (7-14 record, last in Midwest League East)
Outfielder Jake Cunningham, 23, who signed with the Padres as a minor league free agent in February, has had a good start for his new organization and their High-A affiliate. He leads the team with a .321 average, a .607 slug and a .965 OPS. He has hit four homers and has seven RBI. Outfielder Kasen Wells has a team leading .384 OBP with 14 walks and a .266 average. He also leads the team with three stolen bases. Outfielder Alex McCoy is continuing to show he can be an all-around player with a .324 average, four home runs and 12 RBI.
Starter Carson Montgomery has three starts and a 3.00 ERA in 12 innings. Starter Andrew Parra has a 3.12 ERA in four games with 17.1 innings pitched. LHP Kash Mayfield has four starts and a 1.65 ERA in 16 innings pitched with 19 strikeouts and could be pushing the organization into an early promotion.
Reliever Clay Edmondson has a 1.04 ERA in 8.2 innings pitched and two saves.
Both offense and pitching has struggled so far this season for the TinCaps with the above exceptions noted.
Lake Elsinore Storm (12-9 record, swept the Visalia Rawhides 6-0, 1st, in a tie, in California League South)
The Low-A Storm got off to a slow start but several players are surging to push them into their winning ways. Infielder Bradley Frye is hitting .419 with a .621 slug and a 1.083 OPS with 17 RBI. Outfielder Connor Westenburg, the other undrafted free agent with Frye, is hitting .371 with a .935 OPS and has 13 RBI and 13 stolen bases.
Outfielder Ryan Wideman, the Padres No. 9 prospect, will shoot up the prospect rankings if he keeps this up. Wideman is hitting .299/.404/.529 for a .933 OPS. He has seven doubles, two triples, three home runs and 20 RBI with 17 stolen bases in 21 attempts. He also has 11 walks to 18 strikeouts while playing an excellent center field. Coming into the season, the concern was his hitting mechanics and whether he could adapt to higher velocity and spin. He chased out of the zone and there were questions about his ability to be selective. So far, he has altered his mechanics and seems to be adjusting well. He has plus-plus speed and a good arm with good defensive range.
Catcher Victor Duarte leads the team with a .490 OBP, collecting a team high 13 walks. He can also play first base and is in his fourth season with Lake Elsinore but has never played more than 54 games in a season.
Unfortunately, the Storm has lost outfielder Kale Fountain for the season with a shoulder injury requiring season ending surgery. He had a collision with an outfield wall.
Carlos Medina has pitched in six games and has started two games. He has 16 innings with a 2.25 ERA and 16 strikeouts. Winyer Chourio has a 2.25 ERA in four games/three starts over 12 innings pitched and 26 strikeouts. Bryan Balzer has 19 strikeouts over 18 innings pitched and four games started. One difficult outing upped his ERA to 4.50.
Reliever Javier Chacon has a 1.80 ERA in 15 innings with 21 strikeouts. Ethan Long has a 1.35 ERA in six games and 6.2 innings with three saves. Nick Falter has a 1.98 ERA in 13.2 innings in seven appearances with 14 strikeouts.
Jeremiah Estrada made one rehab appearance with Lake Elsinore, pitching one inning with a strikeout. The most encouraging sign was that his pitches were back up to his normal velocity and he allowed no hits. He should resume his rehab with El Paso.
New Padre Lucas Giolito made his first start and went 2.2 innings but was removed after a comebacker hit his pitching hand. He allowed two runs and two hits with three walks and reached 63 pitches. He must be added to the Padres roster by May 16.
Injuries
Miguel Mendez was placed on the IL with a neck strain after his last start. It is not likely to be a long stint. Luis Gutierrez was placed on the 60-day IL with a lat strain. Omar Cruz was sent to San Antonio to fill in for the injured pitchers.
Qrey Lott, an undrafted free agent sign, was added to Lake Elsinore to replace Fountain.
CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 28: Daniel Schneemann #10 of the Cleveland Guardians looks on prior to the game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Grace Hoppel/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Schneemann means “Snowman” in German and “Making Himself a Must-Play Hitter” in Cleveland Guardian.
Coming into 2026, it would surprise almost no one to hear Daniel Schneemann made the Opening Day roster. Despite entering the season with a career wRC+ of 84, Schnee was a good, if not great, defender at virtually every position on the field. This defensive flexibility more than makes up for the lower than average offensive production and allows him to almost perfectly fill the role of an everyday bottom of the line up utility player. What might be surprising for almost everyone is that through the Guardians first 32 games so far in 2026, Daniel Schneemann has been by a very wide margin the team’s most productive hitter, with a 167 wRC+ so far in 2026. The question we’re going to look at today is whether or not this offensive production is sustainable, or if this is just a blazing start to 2026.
I should start off by saying we are still very early in the season, and we’re going to be analyzing a very small sample size of plate appearances (87 to be exact), but there’s still a lot of data to look at and a lot of conclusions we can draw. The first number to look at is Schnee’s wOBA vs xwOBA, and as it stands currently, he’s outperforming his xwOBA by about .048. This is a pretty big outperformance, and as of writing sits at the 18th “luckiest” hitter per Savant. The positive side is looking strictly at his xwOBA of .369, which is still top ~80th percentile in MLB, ranking him 56 out of 273 qualified MLB hitters. The only two hitters with a better xwOBA on the Guardians are unsurprisingly José Ramírez and Chase DeLauter.
The set of data we want to look at next involves metrics that have high correlation with better quality of contact. If you’ve been listening to player and coach interviews, or the broadcast commentary, you’re probably aware that Schnee spent the offseason trying to build more muscle. Now it’s not wholly a 1 to 1 comparison, as there are a lot of other factors that contribute, but we can see this in the data a little bit, as his average bat speed is up from around 70.8 over his first 2 seasons to 71.5 in 2026, and he’s gotten his average exit velo up from around 88.8 to 90mph in 2026. Schnee has also gotten exceptionally efficient at getting this now harder contact into more optimal launch angles. The overwhelming majority of extra base hits come from batted balls in the 8-32 degree launch angle window. Statcast uses LA SS% (Launch Angle Sweet-Spot %) to denote the percentage of in-play batted balls that fall into this optimal launch angle window. Schnee is hitting this window on a staggering 46.2% of his batted balls. That percentage ranks him 7th out of 273 qualified MLB hitters on Savant. This is exactly what you want to do to be able to more consistently get extra base hits.
A lot of you may be sensing a “but” coming, and unfortunately your instincts are good. While everything we’ve talked about before is incredible, when we want to talk about sustainability, there’s a few big factors we haven’t looked at yet. The biggest one is Chase%. One of the most important aspects of hitting is making good swing decisions. Right now Schnee’s Chase% is up from 25.8 in 2025 to 35.1 in 2026. And his Whiff% is up from 29.6 in 2025 to 36 in 2026. How concerning is this? Well, on the surface the answer would be “Very concerning.” That Whiff% is in the bottom 5 percentile on Savant, and the Chase% is bottom 19 percentile.
A very high Chase% combined with high Whiff% is a very bad combination for hitters in general, and this is likely where we will get our answer of “is this sustainable for Schnee?” The obvious adjustment from the league is to throw more pitches out of the zone to try to get him to expand his zone and get himself out. The silver lining is that Schnee’s BB% and K% are pretty much in line with his career averages thus far. So it’s not a total panic yet.
If we were to profile 2026 Daniel Schneemann so far, he’d be considered a high risk, high reward, power- driven hitter. If he starts seeing more pitches out of the zone but is able to resist chasing more than he is now, and if we assume some regression to reel back in some of the batted ball luck so far, there’s no reason to think he can’t continue as a very solid 110-120 wRC+ super utility man. The batted ball metrics are great, the plate discipline is concerning – right now they balance out nicely to equal a phenomenal baseball player all around, especially considering above average defensive capabilities at many positions.
It’ll be very exciting to see how the month of May goes for Schnee, as we start to see if the League begins to approach him differently. Let it snow, Daniel, and keep playing your heart out.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 25: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Max Kranick #32 of the New York Mets in action against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field on May 25, 2025 in New York City. The Mets defeated the Dodgers 3-1. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) | Getty Images
We may have just written about how the Nats bullpen was turning things around, but Paul Toboni is always on the lookout for new arms. The Nats have reportedly signed Max Kranick to a deal that is pending a physical. Before going down with an injury, Kranick was a solid arm in the Mets bullpen, posting a 3.65 ERA in 37 innings.
Right-hander Max Kranick and the Washington Nationals are in agreement on a deal, pending physical, league sources tell The Athletic.
After making the Mets out of camp last season, Kranick was a valuable multi-inning reliever for them. He showed off a solid combination of good stuff and great control. Kranick only walked 5 batters in 37 innings last year. He also averaged 95.6 MPH on his fastball.
However, the 28 year old went down with an elbow injury in mid June. He ended up undergoing Flexor Tendon surgery in July of 2025. Kranick missed the remainder of the 2025 season, and went unsigned after being non-tendered by the Mets this offseason.
Kranick has been throwing for teams though. It seems like he was throwing the ball well enough to catch the Nats eye. We are still not totally sure when Kranick will be ready to pitch in big league games, but presumably it will be at some point this season.
Free agent right-hander Max Kranick is set to throw for teams on Friday afternoon at Ascent Athlete in Philadelphia, The Athletic has learned.
I would assume this is a minor league deal for Kranick where he will get a shot at the big leagues if he looks good in AAA. If Kranick can return to his pre-injury form, he would be a solid piece for this Nats bullpen.
Kranick has a really good fastball that generated whiffs over 25% of the time last season. He can also spin several breaking balls. Kranick used a slider, a curveball and a sweeper last year, with the slider being his go to breaking pitch.
While Kranick did not strike a ton of guys out last year, he can be pretty electric when he is on his game. The breaking ball is not as good, but the plus fastball does remind me a bit of Gus Varland. Both Varland and Kranick have good, but not elite velocity. However, their heaters play up due to the shape of the pitch.
I am excited to follow Kranick as he builds back up and gets ready for big league action. He is likely to have a ramp up period and then pitch in the minors for a while. However, I think Kranick will have a role to play in this bullpen in the second half of the season. He has some intriguing pitch traits and has the ability to go multiple innings.
Last season, Kranick threw 37 innings in 24 outings. He has the ability to be a one inning guy or a multi-inning arm. The Nats new regime clearly values guys like that, which is why they are picking up Kranick. This could end up being a solid little signing.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR - APRIL 22: Will Bush #13 of the Corpus Christi Hooks bats during the game between the Corpus Christi Hooks and the Arkansas Travelers at Dickey-Stephens Park on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 in North Little Rock, Arkansas. (Photo by Braeden Botts/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
Another day of minor league baseball is in the books. See the results below.
AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (16-14) lost 3-2 (BOX SCORE)
Sugar Land got on the board in the first inning on a Nelson solo HR. France got the start and went 4 innings allowing 3 runs. In the 6th inning, Nelson added another solo home run. The pen was solid tossing 4 scoreless innings but the offense was quiet the rest of the way as Sugar Land fell 3-2.
Logan VanWey, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (11-13) won 7-6 (BOX SCORE)
Hicks got the start but struggled a bit allowing 5 runs early. The Hooks offense responded though scoring 4 runs in the first inning on a Sullivan solo home run, Whitaker 2 run double and Guillemette RBI single. In the 6th, Lytle gave the Hooks the lead with a 2 run double. Swanson relieved Hicks and allowed 1 run over 3.2 innings while striking out 4. The game went into the 9th tied and in the bottom of the inning, Bush walked it off with a solo HR as the Hooks won 7-6.
Asheville got on the board in the 2nd inning on a Schiavone solo HR and a run scoring on a steal of home. They picked up another run in the third inning on Brutcher RBI groundout. Hertzler got the start and pitched well striking out 6 over 5 scoreless innings. In the 6th, Asheville got a run on a Brutcher RBI double. Rodriguez relieved Hertzler and tossed 3 scoreless innings. The offense added some insurance in the 9th on a Thomas hit by pitch, wild pitch and Schiavone 3 run home run. Guedez allowed a few runs in the 9th but held on for the 9-3 win.
Jose Guedez, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (10-14) lost 8-5 (BOX SCORE)
The Woodpeckers got on the board in the third inning on an Ochoa 2 run double. They picked up another run in the 5th inning on a wild pitch. Perez got the start and was pitching well but ran into some trouble in the 5th allowing 2 runs to score, and then another 2 runs after he was pulled, though only one was earned. Weber continued to struggle in relief allowing another 4 runs. The offense got 2 runs in the 8th on a balk and a groundout but that was it as the Woodpeckers fell 8-5.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - SEPTEMBER 20, 2025: Hunter Stratton #65 of the Atlanta Braves prepares to pitch during the sixth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on September 20, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by George Kubas/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
The Atlanta Braves lost the series finale yesterday against the Tigers, and although the offense was to blame for only scoring two runs, Joel Payamps was partly to blame as well as he came in and blew a one run lead in the eighth inning, and then to add insult to injury José Suarez came in the game and also gave up two runs.
The Braves’ bullpen has been one of the best in MLB in terms of ERA, but the writing was on the wall for both Payamps and Saurez who were the two odd men out that have struggled more than anyone else. After Payamps’ blown save yesterday, his ERA rose to 8.22 on the season. Suarez is not too far behind him with is ERA raising to 6.61.
It now becomes clear that yesterday was their last chance to prove that they earned another chance to stay on the roster after today the Braves announced that they will both be DFA’d and replaced with Hunter Stratton and Anthony Molina.
The #Braves today recalled RHP Hunter Stratton to Atlanta and selected RHP Anthony Molina to the major league roster. The club designated RHP Joel Payamps and LHP José Suarez for assignment.
We have not seen Anthony Molina yet this season for the Braves. He pitched 94.1 innings for the Rockies over the past two seasons and struggled to a 6.96 ERA, but if we know anything about the Braves’ front office, they love to take struggling relievers from the Rockies and turn their careers around. Molina has pitched 14.0 innings in at Gwinnett this year of 4.50 ERA ball but has had the best WHIP of any minors season of his career of 1.357. He also pitched 2.0 innings for Venezuela in the WBC.
Hunter Stratton was very good in his limited 16.1 innings so far at the MLB level for the Braves last season with a 2.20 ERA and 1.102 WHIP. It was honestly a bit puzzling when he was not part of the plan for the season to begin with.
With this move, the Braves have undoubtably improved their bullpen.
PEORIA, ARIZONA - MARCH 14: Petey Halpin #0 of the Cleveland Guardians takes the field during a Spring Training game against the San Diego Padres at Peoria Stadium on March 14, 2026 in Peoria, Arizona. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Guardians demoted George Valera to Columbus yesterday, without announcing a corresponding move. However, Petey Halpin was not in the Clippers’ lineup in Columbus last night and Stuart Fairchild was, so internet sleuths suspect that Halpin will join the Guardians in Sacramento today to play the A’s.
Valera was given the chance to earn a starting spot in left field, but was lapped by Angel Martinez and Daniel Schneemann. He will get a chance to get his bearings in Triple-A while Angel and Schnee try to show their work is sustainable.
Speaking of Columbus, I am not sure how long the Guardians can leave Franco Aleman there. He has a 0.00 ERA, a 1.62 FIP and a 13.5/2.7 K/BB/9. Daniel Espino is striking out 10.38 per 9, but his 6 per 9 walk rate is at least justification for leaving him down there, as is his need to get used to a reliever’s schedule. I was told Codi Heuer is doing well, but his 6.55/4.09 K/BB/9 doesn’t inspire. He’s limiting hard contact, but I don’t see anything that makes me think Heuer is a “can’t lose” guy if the team needs a 40-man spot in the future.
With the first month of the minor league season in the books, we‘re checking in on the top 25 Mets prospects who made our list ahead of the 2026 season.
I was a Nolan McLean skeptic coming into the season. It’s not that I thought he would be bad, but in the 48.0 innings he pitched last season, he was basically as good as the NL and AL Cy Young Award winners and I did not think that would be sustainable over an entire season. Well, here we are a month into the 2026 season, and by the eye test and by the metrics, it seems like it might be sustainable; the right-hander is somehow even better than he was last season! One month down, five more to go, if these trends continue, the Mets might be looking at their seventh Rookie of the Year and/or fifth Cy Young Award winner, either of which would be their first since 2019 when Pete Alonso won the former and Jacob deGrom won the latter.
It’s not exactly fair to grade Carson Benge the same way I am grading everyone else on this list (with the exception of Nolan McLean, but with him, it’s a moot point). Yes, Benge is struggling, but might he be excelling if he was in Triple-A? Might another hitter who is in the upper levels of the minors right now struggle just as much, if not more, if promoted to the majors tomorrow? Over the offseason, Benge spent a lot of time working with his former head coach at Oklahoma State, Josh Holliday; his swing during his time at OSU was decidedly not a major-league swing, with too much hand movement interfering with his ability to get them into optimal hitting position and to keep his body balanced. Early in the season, it was looking like Benge had gotten into that habit, something he eliminated just prior to signing with the Mets and going pro. Whether or not he is doing this intentionally, if so, if he begins to succeed with it or adjusts and streamlines his mechanics, remains to be seen. Regardless, this is certainly not the start that even the biggest Benge critic was expecting.
It’s been a confusing month for Tong. Outside of an elevated walk rate- command has been a weakness Tong has traditionally always had, though it really wasn’t much of a noticeable issue last season- Tong is still doing everything you want to see. He has limited batters to a .211 BAA and his 38 strikeouts are most on the team and second in the International League. Issuing all those free passes and allowing five home runs in 25.1 innings will screw with your ERA, though. I’m not too worried about Tong, and obviously I’d rather see excellent performance than poor performance, but I think the right-hander will start improving as the weather warms and he gets better acclimated to the Triple-A/MLB ball.
Two games in and A.J. Ewing already has 7 hits in Triple-A. That’s…something else. After having no trouble in Single-A, High-A, or Double-A last season, Ewing continued where he left off, demolishing the Eastern League until his promotion to Syracuse earlier this week. As I’ve said before, there are things Ewing could improve, mainly improving his groundball:flyball ratio, which was a not-that-great 55.1%:22.4% in Binghamton. While it would be great if he keeps posting impressive numbers and gets promoted to Queens sooner rather than later, I’d rather see Ewing not be rushed and improve on the things he could stand improving on, so he can truly be a big-time contributor when he gets the call
Reimer has gotten off to such a cold start to the season after having such a great year last year. He has been walking a lot, which has basically been sustaining his offense- such that it is- but he has also seen a spike in his strikeout rate by nearly 10%. The rest of his batted ball data is more of less in line with the numbers he posted in 2026, so here’s hoping this is just an adjustment period while facing better pitchers.
I repeated I don’t know how many times last year that when Ryan Clifford is on, he is capable of single-handedly carrying a team, but when he’s on the schneid, he is almost unwatchable. Such has been Ryan Clifford’s April. In his first two series’, he hit .219/.265/.250 in 8 games with 1 double, 2 walks, and 16 strikeouts. In his next series, he hit .200/.333/.333 in 6 games with 2 doubles, 3 walks, and 8 strikeouts. In his next, he hit .375/.474/.875 in 5 games with 2 doubles, 2 home runs, and 3 walks to 2 strikeouts. In his next, he hit .217/.296/.478 in 6 games with 2 home runs and 3 walks to 11 strikeouts. As I write this, Clifford has notched just one hit in the three games in Syracuse’s current series against Lehigh Valley while drawing 1 walk and striking out 7 times- and of course it was a home run. I’m just not a believer in Clifford’s hit tool; I mean, you’d hope with a .340 BABIP, a guy could do better than a .224 average, but here we are. He’s on the cusp of the majors, at this point, he is what he is.
I had very high hopes for Watson coming into 2026, and, well, they really haven’t been realized yet. He has roughly the same sample size in Double-A Binghamton in 2026 as he did last season, and basically everything is trending in the wrong direction (with the exception of his walk rate, which is slightly improved). He is inducing about 10% fewer groundballs and is allowing about 10% more line drives, contributing to the high BABIP and the more hits allowed than innings pitched. Hopefully, as the weather improves, so too does Watson.
Jack Wenninger has been one of the bright spots in an April that has seen so many players, in the majors and in the minors, under-perform. I’m happy that the right-hander is getting the recognition that he deserves. The stuff has been effective and there are no major red flags to think that he will be hit hard by the regression bug. I do think he is performing above his head a little bit, but I think Wenninger is unquestionably a major league caliber pitcher and will pitch in some capacity sooner rather than later.
Unlike 2024 first-round pick Carson Benge, 2025 first-round pick Mitch Voit was always going to be something of a project. Not considered nearly as polished as Benge, he ran roughshod over the lower minors, while Voit is not. The infielder has been treading water in Brooklyn, anchored down a bit by a sub-.300 BABIP that he should have the ability to raise in the long haul with more line drives hit with authority and fewer weakly hit fly balls- both things he is capable of doing.
Santucci’s 5.71 ERA is pretty deceptive. He is allowing too many walks- he’s always had that problem- but outside of that, he’s doing everything else right. He’s been limiting the hits, keeping the ball on the ground at a solidly average rate, and has been striking out a surprising number of batters; with a 53.1% LOB%, it just seems like Santucci is getting burned by the relievers after him failing to get outs.
What superlatives can we use that haven’t already been used? The youngest qualified player in the Florida State League, Peña is fourth in the circuit in batting average, sixth in on-base percentage, ninth in OPS, sixth in stolen bases and is walking more than he is striking out. His batted ball data is impeccable, and with the exception of not pulling the ball enough, almost perfect. Yes, he is just 18-years-old, but at this point, he is making the Florida State League look like child’s play. The Cyclones are gonna need some marquee players to put butts in those seats, let’s make it happen sooner rather than later.
Thornton was pitching exceptionally well in Double-A Binghamton last season, prior to an oblique injury sustained in early July that ended his season prematurely. This season? Not so much. So far in the young season, the left-hander is more hittable than he was last year, with his peripherals all trending in the wrong direction. Between the chilly weather and his shaking off the cobwebs, I wouldn’t be worried right now, but as a pitcher who is a sum-of-all-parts guy rather than someone with exceptional stuff, Thornton admittedly doesn’t have too much wiggle room for mistakes.
Through his first twelve games, Morabito hit .295. Over the course of his next 12, he hit .225. Nick Morabito is an extremely BABIP-dependent hitter given the fact that he hits over 50% of the balls he puts in play on the ground; case in point, he had a .333 BABIP over his first 12 games, and a .241 in his next 12. The outfielder has been walking a lot more, striking out a bit less, and has been showing a little more power as compared to last season, all of which is sorely needed ones if he wants to take the next step and become a meaningful MLB contributor on the offensive side.
Gordon began the season on the 7-Day Injured List with a lat injury. He began a rehab assignment with the St. Lucie Mets at the end of the month, allowing three runs on three hits while throwing 23 pitches, recording just one out.
Chris Suero was never going to run a particularly high batting average, but yeesh. Thanks to his power and his walk rate, he’s put up an above-average wRC+ though. Go figure. The backstop/outfielder has seen a 10% decrease in his line drive and groundball rates, and a massive 20% increase in his flyball rate. His Pull% dropped almost 20% while his Center% increased about 10% and his Opp% increased about 5%; in short, Suero is hitting more balls in the air, which is good, but he’s hitting fewer balls to his pull-side for power. All those extra flyballs are dying out there in center and right. Conceptually, should be a correctable issue, so here’s hoping.
Ross began the year on the 7-Day Injured List, suffering from ‘arm fatigue’. He appeared in four rehab games, two with Single-A St. Lucie and two with High-A Brooklyn, and looked fine in them. He has since appeared in a single game for Triple-A Syracuse after being activated, allowing a pair of runs in 0.2 innings, allowing a hit, walking two, and striking out one.
Lambert still is who he is; he’s been stingy allowing hits but negates that by allowing tons of walks, this season a bit more than last. Key to his schtick has been his ability to strike batters out left and right, and Lambert has not really been able to do that so far this season, at least up to his standards. Nothing about his performance has been all that red flag worthy outside of the uptick in walks and decrease in strikeouts, but we’re working with an 8.2 inning sample size here. I have confidence that things will normalize a bit as the season progresses.
Another player whose offense I expected to be depressed due to being in Brooklyn, I didn’t necessarily expect Jimenez’ batting line to be so depressing. Jimenez comes up to the plate looking to swing and swing hard, and that he does, resulting in plenty of strikeouts and plenty of poorly hit balls put in play for easy outs. Very few players hit their way out of Brooklyn, and Jimenez will likely have to either adapt, growing as a player and changing his approach to whatever degree, or risk posting the worst offensive numbers among every player in the minor league system like he is now.
Lantigua was held back in extended spring training when the minor league season began in order to better rehab a core muscle injury. He was activated at the end of the month and played in both halves of a doubleheader, notching one hit, a double.
The physical and baseball growth that was envisioned when Eli Serrano III was drafted still hasn’t manifested itself. The outfielder is walking plenty and has shown no major platoon splits against fellow left-handers, but the hit tool still isn’t up to snuff and the power still isn’t up to snuff; scouts and evaluators still rave about certain underlying hitting metrics and expected statistics, but at a certain point, we need to start seeing the results that have largely been absent.
Guzman got off to a slow start, hitting below the Mendoza line, failing to record a single extra base hit, and striking out at an elevated rate while barely walking. Around the middle of the month, things started clicking and hit a solid .275 with 4 doubles, 1 triple, and 4 home runs for the rest of the month, with 9 walks to 14 strikeouts. The strikeouts are baked into Guzman’s profile, but as long as he is hitting for power, you can live with that. He has about the same amount of games with St. Lucie this year as he did last year, and while he hasn’t been able to continue that torrid pace- he hit .333/.381/.604 with 13 doubles, 2 triples, and 3 home runs in 26 games- he has been looking solid since the middle of the month.
Expectations weren’t especially high for Gutierrez coming into the year. He showed some improvements as a hitter, the advanced metrics showed many were legitimate, and his defense generally got neutral-to-positive reviews. Playing in Brooklyn, I’m not surprised that he is struggling offensively, but more concerning to me is that there are more reports that his defense is bad. I knew he had a scattershot arm, but based on what I have heard, from what I have seen, and from the stats, it’s bad enough that he might not be able to stick behind the dish despite doing everything else back there solidly enough. As a 20-year-old catcher, there’s still plenty of time to figure things out, but he’s really going to need to improve his defense since his offensive profile is not exactly sky high.
Vargas started the season out slowly, but it looked like he was starting to come out of that funk towards the end of the month. In the last series he played in, against the Erie SeaWolves, he hit .412 with a pair of doubles and a pair of stolen bases, walking 4 times to 5 strikeouts. Unfortunately, he was placed on the on the 7-Day Injured List on the 29th with a shoulder injury.
Apr 30, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff (53) walks off the mound with an injury in the second inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
Good morning everyone and happy Friday!
The M’s are on national TV tonight with an Apple TV broadcast on tap for the series opener with the Royals. The Apple TV broadcast has long been my favorite of the national TV presentations. Which ones have you been impressed with so far in 2026?
Adam Jude at The Seattle Times spoke to Mariners brass about the impressive start to the season for M’s second baseman Cole Young.
Around the league…
Brewers veteran starter Brandon Woodruff was removed from yesterday’s game and will undergo an MRI after seeing an alarming drop in velocity during his outing.
Rustin Dodd at The Athletic spoke to several professional athletes — including Logan Gilbert — about why they take on a “persona” when they get on the field or court. ($)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - APRIL 29: Ildemaro Vargas #6 of the Arizona Diamondbacks hits a single against the Milwaukee Brewers during the second inning at American Family Field on April 29, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) | Getty Images
McCann has set a mark by pitching more times before the end of April as a position player than anyone in MLB history, according to Baseball Reference’s Jessica Brand.
The long-time major league catcher has already thrown in four games, including Thursday’s blowout loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Woodruff’s first pitch of the game was a four-seamer at 84.2 mph, and it didn’t improve as he tried to settle into his outing. He worked around a leadoff walk with a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless first inning, then didn’t touch 85 mph with any of his pitches in the second while retiring a batter and surrendered a single to start the frame.
In hindsight, the first signs that something was amiss may have appeared in Woodruff’s previous outing against the Pirates, when 59 of his 71 pitches were varieties of fastballs. His four-seamer averaged 92.9 mph — which was actually up a tick — but he was part of the decision to come out of the game after only five innings, according to Murphy.
Despite Milwaukee Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff being pulled after just 1.1 innings, they still blew out the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-1 on Thursday. But in the process, Diamondbacks infielder Ildemaro Vargas made Venezuelan history.
Vargas went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles in the loss. He extended his hitting streak to 26, which ties the record for longest by a Venezuelan-born player, originally set by Wilson Ramos in 2019, via independent journalist Francys Romero.
Vargas’ .378 batting average is 20 points higher than Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays, who has the second-best batting average in baseball at .358. Vargas’ .378 batting average is 42 points ahead of Xavier Edwards of the Miami Marlins, who is in second place in the National League in batting average at .336.
With the 2026 MLB season only a month old, both the players and owners are already looking to the future. The league’s collective-bargaining agreement (CBA) expires at the end of the season, and both sides are expected to engage in multiple contentious rounds of negotiation.
In an effort to get ahead of that, the owners and MLBPA will reportedly start meeting in the coming weeks, per The Athletic. At the center of those talks is a salary cap, which the owners are eager to implement.
We’re roughly one month into the 2026 Major League Baseball regular season, and that means it’s time for a league-wide check-in. Specifically, we’re going to highlight 10 baseball entities that qualify as “pleasant surprises” thus far. What’s a surprise? Something that’s gone contrary to general expectations. What’s the pleasant part of this? It means the player/team/etc has exceeded expectations in a positive way.
Now let’s look at 10 pleasant baseball surprises that stand out through the first month of the season. We’ll proceed in no particular order, just like time itself …
The Phillies swept the Giants in Thursday’s doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park with a 3-2 walk-off victory in Game 1 and a 6-5 walk-off victory in 10 innings in Game 2, leading them to a 3-0 start under interim manager Don Mattingly.
It was the first time the Phillies had two walk-off wins on the same day since July 24, 1998, against the Marlins. The last team to accomplish the feat was the Pirates on May 28, 2004, against the Cubs.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 26: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees runs the bases after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park on April 26, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Maria Lysaker/Getty Images) | Getty Images
If you haven’t been paying much attention to non-Orioles baseball so far this year, I regret to inform you that the 2026 New York Yankees are a good team. Their 20 wins are the most in the American League. They have scored 153 runs, second-most in the AL. They have allowed 106, which is the fewest. And while the Orioles spent yesterday playing a doubleheader, the Yankees had an off day.
It could be a long four-game series. And, in fact, the Orioles play the Yankees in seven of the next 13 games.
On offense, the Yankees are being led, as expected, by Aaron Judge. In his 11th season, Judge leads the league with 12 home runs and has an OPS of 1.002. More surprising is first baseman Ben Rice, who has 10 home runs and an even higher OPS than Judge. In Rice’s case, something tells me that a .373 BABIP and a17.2% walk rate are probably not sustainable. Arguably, they are the best offense in the AL.
The starting pitching on the Yankees has been insanely good this year. It has been the best in baseball. The Orioles will face their top four starters in this series. Two of them are lefties. Three of them have K/9 over 10. They just called up one of their top prospects, Elmer Rodríguez, to round out the rotation.
The relief pitching hasn’t been as good as the starters, but they have still been good with an opposing OPS of .710. Closer David Bednar leads the league with nine saves, but his ERA of 3.55 and WHIP of 1.658 are a little ugly.
Note: As of Thursday night, the Orioles have not announced any starters for this series. Chris Bassitt and Brandon Young pitched yesterday, so they are out. With Trevor Rogers and Dean Kremer on the IL, it’s unclear how things will shake out.
Kyle Bradish could pitch on regular rest tonight and Shane Baz could pitch on regular rest on Sunday. Down in the minors, Cade Povich last pitched on April 25th. It stands to reason he’ll be called up for this series to pitch today or tomorrow. As for Monday? Maybe Albert Suárez, if they add him back to the 40-man.
Game 1: Friday, 7:05
TBD vs RHP Will Warren (3-0, 2.59 ERA, 37 SO)
After pitching to a 4.44 ERA over 33 starts last year and getting a few Rookie of the Year votes, Warren is off to a great start in 2026. After failing to pitch deep into the game in his first four starts, Warren has gone seven and six innings in his last two.
So far this year, Warren has good numbers across the board with a 28.7% strikeout rate and just a 5.4% walk rate. When he isn’t striking guys out, he is getting groundouts 48.8% of the time. He’s been doing this despite an average fastball velocity of 93.9 mph.
Last year, Warren faced the Orioles four times, and they did pretty well against him. In 20 innings, he gave up 11 runs (4.95 ERA) and the Orioles hit .272/.333/.506. But that was 4.44 ERA Warren, not 2.59 ERA Warren. In limited plate appearances, Gunnar Henderson (3-for-7, 4 BB) and Colton Cowser (3-for-7) have fared well against Warren.
Game 2: Saturday, 1:35
TBD vs LHP Ryan Weathers 1-2, 3.21 ERA, 40 SO
Lefty alert! The Yankees traded for Weathers in January, with the 26-year-old pitcher coming to the American League for the first time in his career. After a tough start with the Padres, Weathers looked good for the Marlins over the last two seasons before the trade. That has continued for six starts this year with the Yankees.
Weathers is a big strikeout guy with a K rate of just under 30% so far this year, but has struggled with the homer. He’s given up five long balls in six starts, but none in his last appearance against the Astros.
Weathers has never faced the Orioles, and no current Orioles have much experience against him.
Game 3: Sunday, 1:35
TBD vs LHP Max Fried (4-1, 2.09 ERA, 37 SO)
Oh great. Max Fried. Back-to-back lefties!
Imagine a world where the Orioles had signed Max Fried before the 2025 season instead of the Yankees? I can’t either, but it would have been cool. Fried has been exactly what the Yankees expected after signing the ace to an eight-year contract.
Fried’s 47.1 innings pitched over seven starts is tops in the league at this point. He hasn’t been striking as many guys out so far, but is keeping guys off base with just 4.9 hits per nine innings and a WHIP of just 0.803.
Last year, Fried faced the Orioles twice. In June, Fried had the old Quality Start with three runs in six inning. In September, Fried struck out 13 Orioles in 7 shutout innings.
From their time together in the NL East, Pete Alonso has faced Fried 48 times with a hitting line of .238/.333/.405 with two home runs.
Game 4: Monday, 7:05
TBD vs RHP Cam Schlittler (4-1, 1.51 ERA, 49 SO)
Are these guys kidding me with these tiny ERAs? Come on!
The Yankees drafted Schlittler in the seventh round of the 2022 draft. He debuted last year with a 2.96 ERA in 14 starts and has been even better this year. He has that tiny 1.51 ERA and leads the league in FIP (1.51), WHIP (0.744), and K/BB (8.17). In case you’re wondering, the Orioles drafted Preston Johnson in the seventh round of the 2022 draft. He is currently on the roster of the Mississippi Mud Monsters of the Frontier League.
Schlittler’s Statcast page is a sea of red. His fastball averages over 97 mph and he has a curve ball that drops in at just 84. He strikes out over 30% of batters and hardly allows home runs.
Last year, Schlittler faced the Orioles twice. In 12.1 innings, he allowed just one run on 5 hits and struck out 15.
How do you think the Orioles will do this series? Let us know in the comments.
Nico Hoerner (Photo by Griffin Quinn/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Cubs and the Diamondbacks are possibly rivals for a wild-card berth into the playoffs. On 27 April, FanGraphs projected them to win 86 and 82 games. This series could possibly decide which team reaches the playoffs.
The Cubs were recently playing hot, with a 10 game winning streak through 24 April. It ended with two losses to the Dodgers.
Top-level comparisons follow.
Offense. This season through 26 April, the Cubs averaged more runs scored per game (5.32 vs 4.89). Swing decisions contributed to that difference. Through 26 April, when each team swung at a pitch in the ‘waste zone’ (well outside the strike zone), they whiffed at the same rate (84%). The difference was the Cubs swung at only 5.4% of ‘waste zone’ pitches, while the Diamondbacks swung at 12.4% of ‘waste zone’ pitches (the highest swing rate in the Majors).
Defense. The Cubs were better in OAA (but tied in DRS) through 26 April (Outs above average, OAA +17 vs +5, Defensive Runs Saved, DRS +16 vs +16).
Bullpen. This season through 26 April, shutdown performances by the Diamondbacks bullpen were almost double the White Sox bullpen (36 vs 19).
Starting Pitcher Matchups. The matchups are even.
Cubs Player to Watch.
Nico Hoerner.
Defense. He won Gold Gloves in 2023 and 2025 for his play at second base. This season, his 3 OAA ranks 7th in the Majors. Ian Happ, playing left field, who has won Gold Gloves in the latest four seasons, said Nico Hoerner is the definition of a great baseball player.
Batting. Each season starting 2020, his OPS+ was over 100. This season’s 170 is a career best. He had 20 RBIs in the first 20 games. Extrapolating, will he have 160 RBIs by the end of the season? He rarely whiffs (10.1% through 18 April). He has a high squared-up rate (32.6% through 18 April).
Overall Value. In games through 18 April, his 1.7 bWAR led the Majors.
He likes pizza. In a recent interview, he replied 10 to 12, when asked the most slices of pizza he can eat in one sitting.
Pitching Matchups.
Friday, 11:20 AM MST.
Zac Gallen. On 25 April, a comeback hit his shoulder. On 26 Nick Piecoro wrote that Torey Lovullo said Gallen was “doing better today.” It is very likely he will pitch this game, which is his next regular start. This season he started 6 games with an ERA of 3.14.
Colin Rea. On 25 April, in the game that broke the Cubs’ 10-game winning streak, he allowed 6 earned runs in 3.1 innings against the Dodgers. Does he have the mental strength to bounce back?
This matchup of starting pitchers is advantage Diamondbacks.
Saturday, 11:20 AM MST.
Ryne Nelson. He has allowed 14 earned runs in his last 5.1 innings pitched (2 games). I’m confident he will bounce back. Prior to those games, his ERA was 3.54.
Shota Imanaga. His season ERA is 3.15.
This matchup of starting pitchers is advantage Cubs.
Sunday, 11:20 AM MST.
Merrill Kelly. In his first two starts, his ERA was 9.31. The root cause was his start against the White Sox. Inn game three, he struggled with his command. He walked 5 batters in the first five innings. In the fourth inning, a two-run single scored two walked batters. It happened when his fastball missed the target, instead crossing the center of the plate. If he again struggles, he may not complete 5 innings.
Matthew Boyd. This season, his ERA is 7.00. In three of his four starts, he did not complete 5 innings. That’s encouraging because the Diamondbacks bullpen has twice as many shutdowns.
COVERS INTEL: Mitch Keller has struggled in night games, posting an 8.00 ERA across two starts.
