Category: Baseball

Mariners 5, Rangers 2

• The longest road trip of the Rangers’ 2026 season has come to an end.
• The Rangers went 4-6 on the road trip.
• Could have been better, could have been worse. 4-6 is about what I think one would expect, though.
• A very “at Seattle” loss in this one. A feckless offense, not great outing from the starting pitcher. The type of thing it feels like has become routine when in playing in Seattle.
• His last time out, MacKenzie Gore lost the strike zone, issuing six walks. This time, Gore was much better at throwing strikes — 61 of them, out of 90 pitches, with just one walk issued — but he was also way too hittable, giving up six barrels (per Statcast) and three home runs.
• All three home runs off of Gore were hard hit. The third of them, Randy Arozarena’s fifth inning two run shot, is a home run only in T-Mobile Park, per Statcast, but it was 103.8 mph with a 27 degree launch angle, so it was really hard hit, not one of those wind-blown fly balls that reaches the seats.
• In all, the Mariners had nine balls in play in excess of 100 mph off of Gore, who has shown both his immense ability and his maddening inconsistency so far in his Rangers career. You can see why the Rangers pursued him, why they prioritized him and see him as having top of the rotation potential. You can also see why he didn’t take an overwhelming package to acquire.
• The rest of the bullpen was perfectly acceptable, Tyler Alexander and Jalen Beeks maintaining their sub-1 ERAs, Gavin Collyer still not allowing an earned run in the majors, Jakob Junis pulling a Mitch Williams imitation by loading the bases with a pair of walks and an HBP before getting out of it unscathed.
• Bryan Woo bam-Woo-zled the Rangers bats for most of the game. Brandon Nimmo led off the game with a single, then didn’t allow another baserunner until Josh Smith singled with one out in the sixth.
• Texas did finally manage to get to him in the seventh, when a Corey Seager walk, a Wyatt Langford single, and a Joc Pederson HBP loaded the bases. Josh Jung hit a fly ball the opposite way that for one brief second off the bat had you hoping, but it was caught right in front of the wall for a sac fly. Evan Carter then doubled home Langford for the final Ranger run of the game.
• A Brandon Nimmo double in the eighth went for naught, and the only excitement in the ninth was Jake Burger getting to first base on a strikeout/wild pitch to lead off the inning. He was still standing there three batters later when Evan Carter grounded out for a game-ending 3U.
• It had the energy of a Sunday day game in Seattle. It had the energy of the end of a ten game in ten day road trip.
• The Rangers have played 16 games in 17 days, and after Monday’s off day they play nine in a row at home, meaning 25 games in 27 days. That’s a really hectic stretch of baseball.
• So here’s the thing about Bryan Woo.
• When I see his name in my head I go, “My name is Woo! How do you do! Now you’re gonna die!”
• Is life easy for a pitcher named Woo? It appears to be when he’s facing the Rangers…
• The thing that always bothered me about “A Boy Named Sue” was that you would think that the protagonist of the song would, at some point, just decide to go by a different name. If he’s going to “roam from town to town” to hide his shame, he could just say when he got to the new town that his name was “Frank or George or Bill or Tom, anything but Sue…”
• Thinking about it, if the narrator hated the name “Sue” so much, you’d think that he’d have gone by something else. Even if he didn’t have the scratch or initiative to go to the courthouse and do a legal name change, there’s nothing that would keep him from just telling people he encountered that his name was something else. People do that all the time. It isn’t like last year’s second half platoon first baseman’s government name is “Rowdy,” after all.
• So here’s the thing…I think that there’s something deeper going on here. The narrator, for whatever reason, didn’t want to go by a different name. Maybe it was a way for him to have an easy excuse for his own failures in life, something to blame it on. Maybe it was due to a streak of misanthropy — a desire to give people a reason to mock him, so he would be justified in hating them. Maybe it was a perverse sense of unconscious pride, the one thing that made him unique in a world full of anonymous, gray people that blurred one into the other.
• He claims that he was going to kill his father until his father gave his explanation for naming him Sue, but I don’t buy that. He wasn’t ever going to kill the man that gave him the name that he claimed to despise but nonetheless embraced. He was going to go through the motions, act like this was some act of vengeance, but ultimately he wasn’t going to land the death blow. How could he, after all, kill the man who gave him the name he had built his entire identity around?
• MacKenzie Gore’s fastball hit 96.6 mph, averaging 95.6 mph. Tyler Alexander’s fastball hit 92.2 mph. Jalen Beeks reached 95.2 mph with his fastball. Gavin Collyer’s sinker topped out at 96.8 mph. Jakob Junis reached 93.4 mph with his fastball.
• Evan Carter had a 107.7 mph double. Joc Pederson had a 107.7 mph ground out. Brandon Nimmo had a 106.5 mph double, a 103.5 mph fly out, and a 101.8 mph single. Josh Smith had a 104.9 mph single.
• And now an off day, a much needed day of rest, and then the Rangers are home for a stretch.

Meet the Mets

You bolt awake in the mountains of Carthage. You are not watching the Mets. It is 217 BC. You are the general Hannibal, and you have changed your mind. The future cannot come to pass. Rome must burn.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, MLB.com, Newsday, New York Daily News, New York Post, The Athletic

Your feelings may vary, but the Mets players are standing by Carlos Mendoza and blaming this skid on themselves and themselves only.

If you want good news, Juan Soto is still on track to return to the Mets during this upcoming homestand.

When the rest of the team returns to Citi Field tomorrow, they aren’t exactly expecting a warm welcome from the fans.

Around the National League East

Curtis Mead hit a two-run homer and three Nationals pitchers combined to shut out the Giants in a 3-0 series finale victory.

The Marlins got to Jacob Misiorowski early for three runs and never looked back from that point in their 5-3 win over the Brewers.

On Peacock, Kyle Schwarber started the Phillies’ half of the first inning with a home run, but the core of the Braves would get the last laugh as they completed a weekend sweep of the Phillies with a 4-2 win.

Around Major League Baseball

Mason Miller continued his streak of essential unstoppability, extending his scoreless streak to 32.2 innings and coming one more appearance shy of breaking the Padres’ team record.

Reaching base in his 51st consecutive game, Shohei Ohtani moved into third place on the Dodgers’ all time on-base streak leaderboard and finds himself a week’s worth of games away from first place.

With a pair of home runs on Sunday, Jose Ramirez is nine home runs and three stolen bases away from becoming the eighth member of the 300-300 club and the first since 2012.

Perhaps unaware that he is on the Dodgers instead of the Mets, Edwin Diaz has continued his early season of horrors, giving up three runs and not recording an out in his first appearance in nearly a week.

Still in uniform and using Cleveland’s incredibly long scoreboard, Austin Hedges got engaged to his girlfriend on the field after Sunday’s contest.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 1967, Tom Seaver won the first of 311 major league games in his career.

Larry Dierker as a player and manager guided the Astros franchise to a combined 574 wins.  His number 49 is rightfully retired, and he joins us as our Legends Series continues with our sixth entry.    

Let’s start at the beginning.  You struck out Willie Mays in your first ever start.  Incredible.  What do you most remember about that?

I was in Cocoa Florida, and I had been averaging almost two strike outs per inning because the general manager Paul Richards taught me how to throw a sinker and a slider which I didn’t know how to throw.  If all you have is a fastball, you’re not going to last very long.   

I was confident, but they didn’t exactly put me out there against an easy team, they had Harvey Kuenn, McCovey, Cepeda and of course, Willie.  I had one strike in the count, and I threw him a change up, and he hit it about 450 feet, but it went 10-foot foul, and that was strike two.  So, then I threw him a slider that started inside, and the ball broke over the inside corner.  It’s now called a backdoor slider of course, and I kind of threw it by accident and it really worked.    

It’s coming up on 50 years since you threw your no-hitter in July of 1976.  Did you know you had it going that day?   

I was at the end of my career.  We were way out of the race.  They had brought up a bunch of younger guys, so it was clear that the team was looking to rebuild.    

On that day, I decided to just mix it up, and not try to impress anyone that I still knew how to throw.  I was cruising along and then once it got into the 8th inning, I decided that I was just going to throw fast balls because we had a 6-0 lead in the dome, and I didn’t have to give in to anybody.   

My fastball was awesome that day.  In 1969, I had a possible no-hitter in Atlanta with two outs when Felix Millan got an infield hit.  I wasn’t going to let that happen again, so I’m in the dome, there’s these fences to protect me, my ball had pop on it.    

It was kind of like the game when Lance McCullers threw the Yankees 23 straight curve balls.  I just kept throwing fastballs and they couldn’t hit them, and I had a no hitter.  

I often wonder about what would’ve happened if you had gotten to the series and faced the Yankees in 1998.  How good was that Astros team in 1998?

The Padres were a really good team.  Give them credit.  Kevin Brown outpitched Randy.    Remember, Bob Gibson one year had an ERA of 1.12 and lost a game to me.  If your team doesn’t score any runs, you can’t win.   

I’m not sure if that was the best team that the Astros ever had in their history, but it was the best team I personally ever had as a manager.  When we got Randy and he went 10-1 that summer, he was just overpowering, and the months of August and September were so exciting.  I really thought we were going to the World Series.    

Do you have any innings left in that arm of yours?  The Astros staff has been compromised to say the least.

I think the problem with the Astros pitchers and pitchers all throughout baseball is not necessarily the pitchers themselves or the coaches, it’s the doctors.    

If a guy has a little thing in his shoulder, they’ll poke around and find something.  In my day, we put hot patches on it, took some painkillers, and went out there.  All they could do back then was take X-rays and that only showed inflammation or tendons or anything else.    

We couldn’t afford not to pitch because everyone mostly had one-year contracts and you were only paid the next season based upon what you did the season before.  Guys didn’t want to miss a start.  

You look at some of those guys in the Hall Of Fame who threw 4000 or 5000 innings,  are you going to tell me that those guys didn’t have tweaks in their arms, that things didn’t hurt?  I took so many cortisone shots, sometimes even from the opposing team doctors from the other club.  I was always focused on the next start.  That’s just the way it was back then.     

It seems the secret to Sunday success for the Braves is to play Sunday Night Baseball. For the second straight week, the Braves were successful via the new version of Sunday Night Baseball on Peacock. They come from behind to beat the Phillies 4-2 and completed a splendid weekend sweep of their division rival. After dropping the first game of the week to the Marlins, the Braves have now won five straight games. They also continue to strengthen their lead in the NL East with a 5 game lead overall.

With another week of facing NL East opponents ahead, the Braves are playing of their best baseball in recent memory.

Braves News

The big off the field news of the Day for the Braves organization was Didier Fuentes being a late scratch for Gwinnett. Fortunately, it was not health related, as Mark Bowman of MLB.com speculates the Braves are keeping Fuentes fresh to be available if needed this week with the big league club.

Mark Bowman looks at how the lineup fueled the Braves success against the Phillies.

The Braves are up to number 2 in the MLB.com Power Rankings.

JR Ritchie once again looked great over the weekend in the minors.

MLB News

The Yankees power output continued to look impressive over the weekend.

After being swept by the Cubs over the weekend, the Mets have now lost 11 straight games.

For the Astros, starting pitchers Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier are expected to return in around 6 weeks.

The Feed

Finally, both Spencer Strider and Sean Murphy will take another step closer to their season debuts as they arrive in AAA with the Stripers this week.

Some news and notes on a Monday morning after the Dodgers’ first losing streak of the season.

Roki Sasaki struggled through another start on Sunday at Coors Field, allowing three runs in 4 2/3 innings, and in his four starts has a 6.11 ERA and 15.9-percent walk rate in 17 2/3 innings. With River Ryan on the injured list in Triple-A, and Blake Snell not expected back until late May or so, there are no current alternatives for the Dodgers in the rotation, which means Sasaki’s learning curve will have to come in the majors for the time being.

Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic wrote about the confidence or lack thereof in and from Sasaki after Sunday’s start:

“I’m trying to make adjustments all the time,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okudo. “In the long run, I have to do the things I need to work on.”

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Edwin Díaz pitched Sunday for the first time in nine days, after being day-to-day with concerns about his velocity. Things did not go well against the Colorado Rockies, allowing three hits and a walk to his four batters faced, and three runs in the eighth inning of a game the Dodgers lost by three.

From Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register:

“Today was a tough evaluation. I mean, it really was,” Roberts said. “Because I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little concerning, really. And so, I’ll have a conversation with him. I know our training staff, and pitching guys will, and make sure that there is nothing to it, because the radar gun has been consistent, and his velocity been consistent in that, and it wasn’t there today.

“I gotta know more.”

The San Diego Padres (5-1) and Arizona Diamondbacks (4-2) had strong weeks to keep pace in the National League West, but the big news of the week was the Padres about to be sold for the staggering price of $3.9 billion.

The sale price shatters the previous record of $2.475 billion, which is what Steve Cohen paid for the New York Mets in 2020. The timing of the sale expected to happen this year, before the collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1. The Padres selling for $3.9 billion is going to make it much harder for owners to posture about the health of the sport being imperiled.

“You see there’s owners that want to win and want to put a great product on the field because they’ve seen the benefits of it,” said Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth, who is also a member of the MLB Players Association’s executive subcommittee. “I think today is a perfect example of what the benefit is.”

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Okay, one more note within the division, and it’s also Padres-related: Closer Mason Miller has yet to allow a run in his 11 1/3 innings this season, and has struck out an absurd 27 of his 38 batters faced (71.1 percent) this season. Sheesh.

NL West standings

Dodgers 15-6, – –
Padres 15-7, 0.5 GB
D-backs 13-9, 2.5 GB
Giants 9-13, 6.5 GB
Rockies 9-13, 6.5 GB

The week ahead

• Dodgers: at Rockies (1 game), at Giants, vs. Cubs
• D-backs: vs. White Sox, vs. Padres (2 games)
• Padres: at Rockies, at D-backs (2 games)
• Rockies: vs. Dodgers (1 game), vs. Padres, at Mets
• Giants: vs. Dodgers, vs. Marlins

Anne Rogers asks how the Royals can stop their losing slide.

Right now, it seems Kansas City can’t get out of its own way. It’s playing out on the field and off it. Winning is going to relieve the tightened grip the Royals have on the bats they swing and the pitches they throw.

But they know they’ve got to execute.

“Everybody’s frustrated,” Quatraro said. “Nobody wants to have a start like this. But it is early, mid-April, and we play better baseball, that’s what’s in our control. If we’re able to do that, we’ll dig ourselves out. There’s way too much talent in there. There’s way too many high-character guys in there.”

Jaylon Thompson gets the explanation from Salvador Perez on his social media comments refuting Matt Quatraro.

“Little confused,” Perez said of Quatraro’s pregame comment. “It’s a little confused, you know, not the right communication. … I’m good. My family is good. Everybody is good. I got reached out by a lot of people yesterday after the game. They sent me what Q said. I don’t have any problem with Q. We talked today.

“I know people are surprised I didn’t play yesterday, but everybody has an off day in the big leagues. You know, it’s kind of hard to play 162 games, especially behind the home plate.”

Anne Rogers has more.

Perez continued: “Everything is fine. He didn’t mean to say that. People understood that in the wrong way. That’s the easy way. Social media, you guys know how it is. It’s kind of crazy sometimes. He didn’t mean to say that I need a mental breather. He knows me, you guys know me. I like to be in the lineup every day. And I like to play and have fun.”

Jaylon also writes about the miscues over the weekend.

Defensively, the Royals contributed to the Yankees’ fifth-inning rally. Cody Bellinger hit a pop fly to shallow left field that fell between Maikel Garcia and Isaac Collins.

“It was very similar to yesterday,” Quatraro said. “Both called it. They both called it multiple times, and they both kind of scared each other off of it. And, you know, obviously, that’s not acceptable. We know we have to be better than that. And they know that as well. It’s something that we have to tighten up.”

Matt Quatraro explains why he was ejected from Saturday’s game.

“I actually wasn’t arguing,” Quatraro said. “I was just trying to get some clarification. We’ve been told that if the pitcher is on the rubber, he’s about to start. And then he goes to touch the PitchCom, it should be a balk because it’s essentially starting, stopping twice.”

Quatraro took issue with the non-balk call.

He initially thought Yankees starter Will Warren could’ve balked with Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia on second base.

The Mets lose their 11th game in a row, their longest losing streak since 2004.

Mason Miller extends his scoreless streak to 32.2 innings, one inning shy of the Padres club record.

Guardians catcher Austin Hedges proposes on the field in uniform after his game.

Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing thought it was “fishy” the Rockies had so many first-pitch swings.

Is Jordan Walker’s hot start sustainable?

Is Mike Trout’s resurgence sustainable?

MJ Melendez is impressing with the Mets.

What we’ve learned about the ABS system through three weeks.

When do players generally retire?

The Cincinnati Bengals acquire defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence from the Giants for the #10 pick.

Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are the finalists for NBA MVP.

A person in a bear suit faked attacks on luxury cars, then submitted fraudulent insurance claims.

Home shopping network QVC files for bankruptcy protection.

New research may hint at how the Grand Canyon was formed.

Your song of the day is The Beatles with I’m a Loser.

Welcome to week 4 of our 2026 NL Central Power Rankings — let’s rank some teams!

1. Cincinnati Reds (14-8); 5-1 this week; 25.8% chance to make postseason (FanGraphs)

The Reds had a great week against a couple of inferior opponents. They started things by taking two of three against the Giants at home before sweeping the Twins in Minnesota over the weekend.

Sal Stewart led the Reds offense with three homers this week, driving in a team-high eight runs. Eugenio Suárez led the squad with seven hits, including a homer and two doubles, driving in three and scoring four runs.

It wasn’t a crazy outstanding week on the pitching side, as no players finished with more than four strikeouts (though five did have four apiece). Chase Burns had the best start of the week, going six scoreless frames with no runs allowed on two hits and a walk, striking out four. Brandon Williamson allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings with a pair of strikeouts. The bullpen was solid as a group, allowing just four runs (one earned) across 20 1/3 innings.

Cincinnati continues the road trip in Tampa Bay to begin this week, as they’ll take on the Rays for three games. After an off day Thursday, they’ll host the Tigers at home over the weekend.

2. St. Louis Cardinals (13-8); 5-1 this week; 15.8% chance to make postseason

The Cardinals extended their losing streak to three on Monday with a loss to the Guardians, but they haven’t lost since, instead rattling off five straight wins over Cleveland and the Astros over the weekend.

Iván Herrera and JJ Wetherholt each slugged a pair of homers, and five others players added a homer each. Wetherholt had six hits this week, driving in six, scoring seven runs, and swiping a base. Alec Burleson led the offense with nine hits this week, including a homer and three doubles, while Jordan Walker added seven hits and Masyn Winn had eight hits in a great week overall offensively for the Redbirds.

Dustin May and Andre Pallante each picked up a win in their starts this week, as May went six innings with one run allowed and four strikeouts, and Pallante went five innings with one run allowed and five strikeouts. Riley O’Brien collected a pair of wins and a pair of saves in four outings this week, going four scoreless innings with a team-high six strikeouts.

The Cards now hed to Miami to face the Marlins for three games before an off day on Thursday. They then return home for a quick three-game homestand series against the Mariners.

3. Chicago Cubs (12-9); 5-1 this week; 56.9% chance to make postseason

The Cubs had a nearly identical week to the Cards, dropping Monday’s game against the Phillies before picking up five consecutive wins over Philadelphia and the lowly Mets this weekend, extending New York’s losing streak to 11 games.

Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, Carson Kelly, and Dansby Swanson each slugged a pair of homers this week, with Hoerner leading the squad with nine hits. He also drove in 11 and swiped a pair of bases. Alex Bregman added seven hits — all singles — and Matt Shaw had five hits, four of which were doubles.

Shota Imanaga showed out in his start, picking up the win as he went six innings, allowing one run on three hits and a walk, striking out a team-high 11 batters. Caleb Thielbar picked up a win and a save across three scoreless appearances, spanning 2 2/3 innings with five strikeouts. Jameson Taillon also tossed six innings of one-run ball, striking out four as he picked up the win. Corbin Martin, Riley Martin, Hoby Milner, and Ryan Rolison also had scoreless weeks for the ‘pen.

Chicago stays home as they’ll host the Phillies for four games, their second series against them in two weeks. They’ll then head west to face the Dodgers and Padres beginning this weekend.

4. Pittsburgh Pirates (13-9); 4-3 this week; 59.1% chance to make postseason

The Pirates had a slightly down week after starting the month red-hot, as they alternated wins and losses over seven games against the Nationals (2-2) and Rays (2-1) this week.

Spencer Horwtiz, Brandon Lowe, and Marcell Ozuna each had a pair of homers for Pittsburgh this week, with Lowe also driving in a team-high nine runs, adding a pair of doubles and scoring five runs. Ozuna led the team with 10 hits in 26 at-bats (.385 batting average), while Oneil Cruz, Joey Bart, Ryan O’Hearn, and Nick Yorke added a homer each. Konnor Griffin also picked up eight hits, driving in four and swiping three bases.

Paul Skenes turned in a pair of strong starts, spanning 10 innings with one run allowed (a solo homer) and 11 strikeouts. Bubba Chandler picked up a win in his outing, going six innings with one run allowed and three strikeouts. Carmen Mlodzinski went six innings after the opener, allowing no runs and striking out five. Justin Lawrence, Isaac Mattson, Mason Montgomery, and Gregory Soto all had scoreless weeks as well.

The Pirates get the day off today, and they’ll then take a six-game road trip to visit the Rangers and Brewers this week.

5. Milwaukee Brewers (12-9); 4-2 this week; 43.6% chance to make postseason

In pretty much any other division, a 4-2 week and 12-9 overall record would get you at least a top-three, if not top-two spot in the division (and the power rankings). Unfortunately, the Brewers play in the NL Central, where all five teams had a winning week and have a winning record through nearly a month of play. Milwaukee bounced back after a six-game losing streak to win four in a row over the Blue Jays and Marlins before dropping Sunday’s series finale in Miami.

Milwaukee’s home run leaders, Jake Bauers, Gary Sánchez, and Brice Turang, each added a homer to their season totals this week. Turang led the offense, slashing .304/.429/.478 as he extended his on-base streak to 19 games to begin the season. William Contreras added a team-high eight hits, including a pair of doubles.

Jacob Misiorowski had a pair of solid outings but no wins to show for it, as he totaled 10 1/3 innings with five runs allowed (just three earned), striking out 14. Brandon Sproat had his best start as a Brewer, going 6 2/3 innings with one run allowed and six strikeouts, while Brandon Woodruff went seven frames with one run allowed and four strikeouts. Coleman Crow had a successful MLB debut, going 5 1/3 innings with two runs allowed and four strikeouts, and Chad Patrick added a quality start with 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball and a pair of strikeouts. Aaron Ashby added two more wins with two more scoreless appearances, striking out three over 1 1/3 innings, and Carlos Rodriguez tossed two scoreless innings to save the bullpen late on Sunday, striking out three.

The Brewers now head to Detroit, where they’ll enjoy a day off today before a three-game series starts Tuesday. The Crew then heads back home for a homestand that features the Pirates and D-backs.

Louisville Bats 2, Toledo Mud Hens 1 (box)

Toledo and Louisville combined for just nine hits in the series finale, and each team had just 32 plate appearances. Low-offense days mean good things for the pitching staff, but the Mud Hens haven’t fared well in these low-scoring games this weekend. Toledo dropped the series 4-3 with a 2-1 loss.

Both of Louisville’s runs came in the first inning off Sawyer Gipson-Long. Noelvi Marte and JJ Bleday hit a double and a two-run home run with two outs, and that ended up deciding the game. Both guys are no longer considered prospects, and Marte was recently demoted to Triple-A after 10 games with the Cincinnati Reds. If someone on the Bats is going to beat you, it’s going to be these two.

The good news is that Gipson-Long was better after that. He retired seven of the next eight batters he faced and induced a double play after allowing two consecutive baserunners in the fourth. The off-speed stuff worked well with Gipson-Long working a 50% whiff rate or better on his slider and changeup. The fastball remains hittable as his velocity hasn’t returned to pre-Tommy John levels yet. He ended the day with six of Toledo’s 10 strikeouts.

Drew Sommers got the sixth and started the seventh, but he was pulled after walking the leadoff man. Cole Waites cleaned things up despite hitting a batter, and Burch Smith went 1-2-3 in the eighth. Overall, it was a good day for the staff, but that first frame proved costly with little to no offensive support.

The Mud Hens struggled to string anything together against Davis Daniel Gage Workman singled in the first, and Ben Malgeri singled in the third after Max Burt walked. Max Clark stranded both runners in the third with a pop-up to second base. Jace Jung singled in the fourth, and that was it for a few innings. Daniel settled in and retired the next seven batters he faced. He ended the day with eight strikeouts and just the one walk to Burt through seven frames.

Lyon Richardson went 1-2-3 for Louisville in the eighth, but Toledo had a chance in the ninth against Luis Mey. Malgeri led off with a single, and Clark moved him to third with a 105.8 exit velocity base hit.

Max Clark gets 96 and turns it around at 106 for a single. The Mud Hens bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate in the 9th. pic.twitter.com/Qi2P5ubE0q

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 19, 2026

Workman did a job and brought in Malgeri with a sacrifice fly, but Eduardo Valencia and Jung couldn’t bring Clark around to extend the game.

we rally we rally
(2-1) Bats pic.twitter.com/QWmgwKfF6J

— Toledo Mud Hens (@MudHens) April 19, 2026

It’s a bit rare to see minor league teams pitch this well in a series finale, but both teams were solid.

Clark: 1-4, 2 K

Malgeri: 2-4, R

Workman: 1-3, RBI, 2 K

Gipson-Long (L, 0-2): 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: Toledo is at home against Omaha next week, starting on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. ET.

Erie SeaWolves 9, Harrisburg Senators 5 (box)(Gm 1)

Erie’s suspended Saturday game first, which was left at a 1-1 tie in the top of the second. The SeaWolves added eight runs on as many hits on Sunday to beat Harrisburg, 9-5. (The Twitter admin might be a bit confused…)

SeaWolves take down the Senators 5-2 @PALottery#Sponsoredpic.twitter.com/HpOHSYLhx3

— Erie SeaWolves (@erie_seawolves) April 19, 2026

Moises Rodriguez took over for Dariel Fregio, with two outs and two on, and struck out Cayden Wallace to keep Fregio’s line where he left it yesterday. Rodriguez returned for the third after a 1-2-3 frame for the offense and worked around a leadoff walk. So far, so good.

John Peck broke the tie in the third. He reached on a one-out double, stole third base and made his way home after an errant throw from Harrisburg’s catcher. Unfortunately, Colin Fields couldn’t hold that lead very long, as he gave up a three-run homer in the top of the fourth. Fields put himself in a jam with a one-out walk and hitting a batter before the big fly from Seaver King.

John Peck doubles off the left fielder’s glove and then steals 3rd and comes around to score when catcher Caleb Lomavita throws a knuckleball to 3rd. pic.twitter.com/p0zUfrzdiF

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 19, 2026

Fields didn’t make it out of the third, allowing another single and a two-out walk. Wandisson Charles had to clean things up for him.

The SeaWolves’ offense had Fields’ back, though. E.J. Exposito and Joe Campagna hit back-to-back doubles to make it a 4-3 game. Campagna scored on an Aaron Antonini groundout after advancing on a passed ball. Seth Stephenson tripled, and Peck homered to give Erie a two-run lead.

Seth Stephenson shoots a triple into the right corner. pic.twitter.com/lsICjsssNl

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 19, 2026

John Peck ropes a 2-run homer to right field and Erie leads 6-4. It’s his first of the year, and @BurgessLuke03 calls it. pic.twitter.com/WzRgKigpbV

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 19, 2026

Both teams got on base in the fifth, but neither scored. Charles worked through the sixth inning for Erie, stranding a runner on third after allowing a double and balking. Peck scored again after singling, stealing, and a throwing error on a potential double-play ball. Justice Bigbie made it a four-run game with a sacrifice fly later in the sixth.

Yosber Sanchez struggled in the seventh, hitting the first batter he faced and walking the next. A single loaded up the bases, and Sanchez walked in a run before inducing a ground ball back to the mound and getting the first out at home on a force play. He struck out King before getting the hook, and Luke Taggart struck out Wallace to leave the bases loaded.

Taggart got the seven-out save, working around a leadoff error in the eighth. Peck added another run in the eighth with his second homer and fourth hit of the day. What a day for the former seventh-round pick after a bit of a sluggish start to the season.

John Peck launches his second home run of the day. A monster blast onto the arena in left field.
What a huge day for Peck:
4/5, 2HR, 2B, 4R, 3RBI, 2SB pic.twitter.com/UQt6znpKt5

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 19, 2026

Peck: 4-5, 2 HR (2), 2B (3), 4 R, 3 RBI, K, 2 SB (5)

Stephenson: 2-5, 3B (1), 2 R, 2 SB (11)

Taggart (S, 1): 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

(F/7) Harrisburg Senators 1, Erie SeaWolves 0 (box)(Gm 2)

Erie outhit Harrisburg, 5-2, over seven innings in the second half of the doubleheader, but the Senators scored the lone run of the game to take the win and the series 4-2.

Final: Harrisburg 1 | Erie 0 @PALottery#Sponsoredpic.twitter.com/gBROCQtSFn

— Erie SeaWolves (@erie_seawolves) April 19, 2026

The SeaWolves stranded all 10 baserunners in this one. Their best chance to score came in the third with Justice Bigbie up and the bases loaded, but he flied out to center. Bigbie had two hits in this game. He just couldn’t get it done when the team needed it most. Brett Callahan also left the bags full in the fourth after a pair of walks and a single from Peyton Graham. All five of Erie’s hits were singles. Brett Callahan and Peck’s base hits came in the third.

Sean Hunley took the loss as the starter. He went just two innings, but Harrisburg got to him in the second. Hunley walked the leadoff man and moved him to second on a wild pitch. A groundout and a fielder’s choice brought the run in. He loaded up the bases with another walk and a hit batter, but got out of the inning before any more damage was done.

Harrisburg only had one more baserunner for the rest of the day. Eric Silva was excellent in relief, allowing one hit over four innings. He only struck out a pair, but outs are outs. Tanner Kohlhepp went 1-2-3 in the seventh, but Erie didn’t have any offense over the final two frames.

Bigbie: 2-3

Silva: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

Coming Up Next: Erie is in Binghamton next week, starting Tuesday at 6:07 p.m. ET.

West Michigan Whitecaps 12, Lansing Lugnuts 4 (box)

West Michigan extended its win streak to seven games with a dominant 12-4 victory over the Lansing Lugnuts on Sunday.

The Whitecaps had eight hits and 11 walks in the series finale. Cristian Santana had the biggest hit of the day, with a grand slam in the second to open the scoring.

Cristian Santana absolutely destroys this ball for a grand slam to dead center. @jgoldstrass has it at 427 feet. The Whitecaps lead 4-0 in the 2nd. pic.twitter.com/5Q5FLuAyf5

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 19, 2026

Lansing answered in the third with a pair of runs off Gabriel Reyes, but those came on the only two hits he gave up all day. Reyes had some command issues with four walks, so he left in the fourth with two outs.

West Michigan put up a three-spot in the fifth, scoring all of those runs on an Andrew Sojka home run. Sojka led the team with three hits on the day.

Andrew Sojka smokes a 3-run homer to right and the Whitecaps take a 7-2 lead. It’s his 2nd home run of the series, and West Michigan is creeping closer to a 6-0 series sweep. pic.twitter.com/uvwCOEC1ic

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 19, 2026

Juan Hernandez scored and Samuel Gil scored in the seventh. Gil reached on a double, but both came across the plate on walks. Lansing gave up five free passes in the inning, between two pitchers.

Inohan Paniagua was good for 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Reyes. He struck out three and didn’t give up a walk or hit — Paniagua did hit a batter, though. Carlos Lequerica took over in the seventh. Lansing got to him for two runs on four hits and a walk, most of which came in the eighth.

The Lugnuts had three straight hits off him before recording an out in the eighth, but Lequerica had plenty of cushion to work with. He still walked in a run, which isn’t great.

Nolan McCarthy and Hunter Dobbins both doubled in insurance runs in the ninth for good measure. Weins closed things out in the bottom of the ninth.

Make it a 12-4 Whitecaps lead after Hunter Dobbins smashes a 2-run double off the wall in left center. pic.twitter.com/WJoDoPg5aH

— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) April 19, 2026

West Michigan is cruising right now, but Lansing’s pitching staff didn’t help itself out in any way.

Santana: 2-4, HR (2), 5 RBI, BB

Sojka: 3-4, HR (2), 3 R, 3 RBI, BB

Paniagua (W, 1-0): 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps are at home next week against Lake County, starting Tuesday at 6:35 p.m. ET.

Fort Myers Mighty Mussels 5, Lakeland Flying Tigers 0 (box)

Lakeland put up a goose egg against Fort Myers, dropping the series finale to end things in a 3-3 tie on the week.

Alistair Tanner took the loss, giving up three runs over two innings. He had a nice debut a few weeks ago, but things haven’t been great for him since. Tanner balked in a run in the first, and three walks and a two-out base hit led to two more in the second.

Jatnk Diaz was mostly fine in relief for three innings, but a leadoff error from Jack Goodman at shortstop led to an unearned run crossing in the third.

The Flying Tigers didn’t record a base hit until the fifth, when Beau Anekeney led off with a single. The next three batters struck out, and then Ankeney struck out in the sixth with the bases loaded. Carson Rucker and Zach MacDonald had leadoff singles in the seventh and ninth, respectively, but that’s pretty much all the offense did on Sunday.

Jan Carabello pitched the sixth and seventh for Lakeland. He gave up a run on two hits and two walks in the sixth before working around a one-out walk in the seventh. Andrew Pogue worked around a leadoff walk in the eighth.

This was a pretty boring game aside from a few defensive gems. Thayron Liranzo only had two at-bats, being replaced midway through the game for a pinch runner.

Liranzo: 0-1, BB, K

Diaz: 3.0 IP, 3 H, R, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

Coming Up Next: Lakeland is at home against Tampa next week, starting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. ET

I think it is fair to say that the Cardinals have been a surprise. Certainly to everybody else, but even among more optimistic Cardinals fans, I think their start has been unexpected. Now, it is baseball. Bad teams can have good 20-game stretches and the Cardinals do have a -8 run differential. On the surface, if you had told me the Cardinals would be 13-8 with a -8 run differential, I don’t think it would be THAT surprising.

What is perhaps more surprising is that it looks a little more real than one might assume. Sure, the Cardinals aren’t going to go 100-62 (what 13-8 is on pace for), and I question the sustainability of them playing this well of course. But I genuinely think they look like kind of a good team, with the exception of the bullpen. The bullpen is why the run differential is negative.

They are lucky to be 13-8, because they keep winning the close games, but they’re also close games because the bullpen keeps making them close games. From a long-term standpoint, this is best case scenario. When the Cardinals are officially in “We’re trying to win” territory, there’s a good chance none of the members of this bullpen will be here. That’s the nature of bullpens.

Basically, regardless of how this season ends up turning out, it has stopped feeling like a rebuild for me. Unlike the bullpen, the vast majority of their current lineup will still be here when the Cardinals are trying to win officially. You’re not supposed to have that part figured out already.

“It doesn’t really feel like a rebuild,” Masyn Winn said.  “Obviously we got rid of some of our big names, but I mean we still have a good young core of guys.  Those are guys we can build around.  I’m hoping I can be here long enough to see the benefits of this transition.  There’s four or five guys that could come out and just have a crazy year.  They do that, other guys do what they’re supposed to do, and we’re right there.  It’s not like we were 20 games under .500 last year, we were close.”

And this is something Chaim Bloom has been very clear about in interviews. They’re not writing this year off. Things could happen to speed this up. They simply are putting the long-term first, second, and third. Which means we won’t see bullpen help except internally.

“There is on some level even understanding – and I’ve tried to be very clear about this – that we are not prioritizing short term success over what needs to happen in long-term,” Bloom said.  “Even with that, my mindset is such that you’re never going to stop trying to win and there is some way by which you will always assess where you are by the standings.”

Having a young team and no expectations can be a huge benefit. There’s probably no egos, they understand the Cardinals will give them a legit shot, and they’re all fighting for their career.

“There are a lot of young guys who are hungry trying to make a name for themselves but also to bring a bunch of winning games back to St. Louis, like that’s what we’re trying to do,” JJ Wetherholt said.  “You can feel that as a young guy.”

It’s also helpful that everyone in the starting lineup is between 23 and 27 years old. In the starting rotation, everyone is between 25 and 28.

“I think everyone being the same age is honestly helpful,” Thomas Saggese said.  “We’re all in similar stages of our lives and we have a similar goal.  That’s what’s going to bring us together and propel us to being successful, just having that chemistry.  I think it might be easier to build that chemistry.” 

It’s the kind of youth that makes 27-year-old Alec Burleson the equivalent of the grizzled veteran on the team, even though he’s only had two full seasons under his belt. But he was given a similar chance to what a good number of young guys will get, so they will probably listen.

“I’m still trying to make adjustments in this league, so any of my experience that I can give to these guys and kind of show them the way or make their adjustment a little easier and seamless, that’s what I want to do,” Burleson said.

The Cardinals have some sort of given themselves a scrappy underdog status, and it’s not totally undeserved. But they were not expecting to blow teams away.

“We’re not going to be the long ball team,” Winn said.  “We all know that.  We’re going to go out there and be scrappy.  I’m actually excited.”

They’re actually tied for 8th in homers, so I’m guessing they’ve hit more homers so far than Winn expected. Although I’m also sure he expected to have a homer by now too I would assume. But the players had some expectation of winning, certainly competing in most games and not being an easy win for anyone.

“If there’s a standard set early and we can all abide by it – it’s not like rules or anything – there’s a certain way Cardinals play baseball and if we can all do it, it’ll work itself out,” Burleson said.  “I think that’s the way you kind of get these guys together.  You set a standard and you all kind of buy into it.”

You can tell communication in the organization is better, because Burleson says something like this before Bloom says this.

“Most players, especially young players, come into this hoping to establish themselves and hoping to be a part of something for a long time,” Bloom said. “I think it’s healthy, especially in an organization like this, when people are really looking at ‘what is that standard I’m expected to meet?’ in order to be a part of this.”

That can’t possibly be a coincidence. The message is getting passed down. You lay down what you think a player can do, you give them the tools and importantly the space to be able to do it, stick to the process, and things should work in your favor. And in keeping with that theme, the process on a broader scale dictates to stick to the plan. Okay the season is going better than expected – so far – but it’s not time to change the plans.

As weird as it sounds, there’s a bigger goal than doing well this particular season. Yes, it’s going to fun if this season does go well, but winning as many games as possible this year is not actually the goal.

“With respect to that bigger goal, regardless of the standings, regardless of what the win total, you want to see that core continue to take shape, continue to progress,” Bloom said.  “I would like to be able to look up at the end of the 2026 season and feel like that picture of what that group looks like and what it will continue to look like, whether that’s stuff that happens here at the major league, stuff that happens throughout the system, even stuff behind the curtain in the organization that’s going to be necessary for us to succeed over time and make really good acquisitions and really smart baseball decisions over time that is further ahead than where it was.”

The best part about the Cardinals being 13-8 is not that they’re 13-8. But that so far, the core does appear to be taking shape. Jordan Walker has catapulted himself into the core. Ivan Herrera somehow has disappointed with a .378 OBP, but his expected stats are waay better. Alec Burleson has more walks than strikeouts, which I would never think possible in a 95-game sample. After yesterday’s game, Masyn Winn is completely back with a 98 wRC+ and a lower BABIP.

Sure, the rest of the outfield not named Walker could be going better, and sure Nolan Gorman has been a mixed bag. Only Gorman really has the potential to be core though among this group and I’m not convinced he’s a part of the future plans even if he does bounce back. But things seem to be moving in the right direction.

“Honestly, I think the fans should be pretty excited,” Winn said.  “It might take a year, might take two, might be this year, but we’re heading in the right direction.”

And that’s what this year is about. Moving in the right direction. Identifying the future and then most likely shed the pieces that aren’t a part of that future for prospects, in other words, you’re trading for the future.

The buzz is there. Just in my personal life, the attitude among the fanbase has certainly shifted. I don’t think the vibes have been this good since the 2022 season. The record very obviously helps. But they were 33-25 at one point last year. It was nothing like this. So far, it hasn’t translated to attendance, although there hasn’t been a drop.

“If we’re doing our job and we’re doing it well, I think fans are going to show up,” Winn said.

I would love to find out.

• Former Angels great Garret Anderson passed away on Friday at age 53. Anderson holds several career records for the Angels and was a three-time All-Star. Our condolences go out to his family, friends, former teammates and the Angels organization.
• The Angels will honor Anderson with a patch and other tributes.
• Sam Blum was at Friday night’s game in Anaheim which was an emotional affair as GA’s teammates remembered and paid tribute to him. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• The Padres have agreed to a sale for $3.9 billion to Clearlake Capital co-founder José E. Feliciano and his wife Kwanza Jones. That’s a record sale for a baseball team.
• Brittany Ghiroli gets reaction to the record sale from around MLB, (The Athletic sub. req.) including how it is going to be tough for MLB owners to cry poverty in the upcoming collective bargaining talks after this sale price for a non-major market team.
• You probably know this already, but the Mets lost their 11th straight game on Sunday, their longest losing streak since 2004.
• Jay Jaffe looks at what’s going wrong with the Mets in an article that was written after they’d only lost nine-straight. Mostly, it’s the bats.
• Francisco Lindor came to the defense of Mets manager Carlos Mendoza.

"He's done a fantastic job. This is not on him."

Francisco Lindor says "Mendy is our guy" after being asked about the job Carlos Mendoza has done as Mets manager: pic.twitter.com/Zc6Yz4cOrN

— SNY (@SNYtv) April 19, 2026

• Royals legend Salvador Perez and manager Matt Quatraro got into it a bit after Quatraro suggested that Perez needed a “mental breather” and Perez said he no didn’t. They metaphorically kissed and made up later. At least I assume it was metaphorical.
• Mike Axisa notes that the Dodgers have been the best team in baseball despite not getting much of anything from their big offseason signings.
• Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing said the Rockies approach at the plate was “a little fishy” in Saturday’s Colorado win. (The Athletic sub. req.) His manager Dave Roberts said that it wasn’t.
• One thing the Rockies are doing this year is “suggesting” pitches from the dugout. (The Athletic sub. req.) The Marlins are outright calling pitches from the dugout, but the Rockies are taking a softer stance to the same thing, saying that their pitchers and catchers are free to ignore the suggestions. But they say they mostly don’t.
• One early-season development for each team that they can believe in.
• Chad Jennings has which teams are overachieving and which are underachieving so far this year. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Jesse Rogers reports that the Pirates have been impressed with the maturity of their young rookie Konnor Griffin.
• Of course, Griffin signed a long-term extension with the Pirates. Michael Baumann thinks that who benefits from all these deals and whether it is good for the game is very complicated.
• Julian McWilliams looks at the development of Cardinals slugger Jordan Walker and how the Cardinals needed more than just “patience” to allow the former elite prospect finally bloom. Cardinals hitting coach Brant Brown is extensively quoted and I can’t help but hear Ron Santo scream “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” in my head whenever I hear his name.
• Ryan Blake has a look at when players retire.
• The Reds won a game in extra innings on Sunday after former Cubs catcher P.J. Higgins successfully called for an Automatic Ball/Strike challenge to end the game.
• Jordan Schusterman and Jake Mintz explain what we’ve learned about the ABS system so far.
• First female umpire Jen Pawol was behind the plate for her first ever major league game with the ABS system on Friday. She went 2 for 4 on pitches that were challenged. Giants catcher Daniel Susac praised Pawol behind the plate. Gabe Lacques reports.
• Padres closer Mason Miller now has a scoreless streak of 32.2 innings, just one inning shy of a team record.
• Bryan Horowitz reports on the band Korn sending Miller a whole bunch of swag and inviting him to a concert after they found out that their song “Blind” was Miller’s walk-out music. Of course, the Padres picked the song for Miller since he was born after the song was popular, but he still appreciates it.
• Casey Drottar reports that Taiwanese fans continue to support Guardians minor league outfielder Stuart Fairchild after he played for Chinese Taipei in the WBC. Fairchild has never been to Taiwan, but he hopes to go this upcoming offseason and he wants to take his mother, who left the island for America when she was 12 and hasn’t been back.
• Manny Randhawa reports on Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki and other Japanese players meeting with a 100-year-old Nagasaki survivor at Coors Field this weekend.
• Guardians catcher Austin Hedges proposed to his girlfriend on the field after a game on Sunday. She said yes.
• A college team won a 21-inning marathon on a walk-off balk. Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru with the story.
• The Reno Aces did an entire lineup introduction in a Mickey Mouse voice.

Only in @milb do you have someone in the front office with a perfect Mickey Mouse impression to announce our Mickey Mouse Night starting lineup 🐭 pic.twitter.com/iZAbqh22tB

— Reno Aces (@Aces) April 18, 2026

And finally, Matthew Leach has the story of Twins reliever Kody Funderburk, whose wife Alicia is both pregnant and was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Through treatment, the doctors believe that both Alicia and baby will be fine.

For most folks, the start of their career means the end of school. It doesn’t matter if you work in finance, healthcare, the arts or athletics. However, that is not the case for all athletes. The Colorado Rockies provide continuing player education, helping their Latino players learn English language and get acquainted with US culture.

It’s an essential part of player development for future Rockies who are not from the United States. After all, learning a new language and becoming comfortable with a new culture provide off-the-field challenges, and all of this happens while players are continuing to develop their baseball skills.

In this multi-part series, I will be taking you behind the scenes of the Rockies Cultural Education & Development Program.

First up, how it came about.

A brief history of the program

The Rockies Cultural Education & Development Program was first established in 2012 by Josh Rosenthal – brother of former Rockies assistant general manager, Zack Rosenthal. Josh was a former Peace Corps volunteer and felt the need for the players to do more than be able to speak English. He pitched the program to Vice President of International Operations Rolando Fernández, and the rest is history.

Within the year, they hired Angel Amparo – a former systems and structural engineer – as the Cultural Education & Development Coordinator. 

“We pretty much started from scratch with this,” Amparo said. “We were like, ‘What do you want this to look like?’ So we decided on a curriculum in terms of what we needed and a syllabus that we thought was beneficial for our players. This was with a lot of feedback from the coaches, the player development staff and the front office. So we wrote this – I don’t think we knew what we were doing for the first couple of years. They were pretty touch and go, learning and trial by error. But as the years went by and we got more into it… I was focused primarily on just the kids in the Dominican Republic, and Josh could focus on the kids in the States.”

After eight years, Rosenthal left the Rockies organization, and Amparo and a team of four teachers have continued to administer the program from the Dominican Summer League all the way through Double-A: 

• Julio Medina – Lead Teacher (Dominican Summer League)
• Steven Baumann – English Teacher (Arizona Complex League)
• Dr. Yulonn Harris – English Teacher (Fresno & Hartford)
• Paul Worley – English Teacher (Spokane)

The Rockies originally had a formal program for players in Triple-A and the major leagues, but found it to be challenging due to the constant roster turnover. 

“I still communicate with them and we still do a lot of virtual teaching,” Amparo said. “We still offer them any type of English language learning programs that we use and they have access to it. But since they’re at that level and they’re older and more mature – not that we’re babysitting them – we give them the option. We want to tailor to what [they] need.

“So what I do with the Triple-A and major league kids is ask ‘What do you want? What would help you this season?’ And based on what they tell me in their feedback, I design something specific for them that can help them.”

Teacher hiring process

The interview process for teachers is extensive.

“I look for someone who has some experience with either inquiry-based learning, project-based learning or Socratic teaching,” Amparo said. “Knowledge of baseball isn’t a game changer. It’s nice if they have it, but Yulonn (Harris) didn’t know anything about baseball when she was first hired, but she was so qualified and she’s learned so much over the years about the team. I look for unorthodox-type teachers, very outside-the-box teachers.

“I have them create a lesson plan for me, and then I have them do a mock class with their affiliate,” Amparo continued. “I’ll be there and I want to observe. And based on that, I make my decisions. But I’m picky. When I hired Steven (Baumann), we interviewed 74 candidates. And I ask the players who they like afterwards because obviously they work together for the whole season, or multiple seasons, so I want to make sure they have a good connection with this person.”

Term structure

Classes are provided to all signed Latin players, approximately 120-140 players per season. Classes are offered in a hybrid format with both in-person and virtual components for the duration of the season, starting in April and running until September. In the DSL, players take classes every day from 4-7 pm after their morning games. Once players get stateside, the teachers are given more flexibility based on game schedules, but they are still required to meet at least three times per week with two days of asynchronous content. Additionally, the DSL teachers hold office hours for 30 minutes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

In addition to their own internal team, the Rockies also collaborate with other teams across Major League Baseball.

“We have monthly meetings with MLB and all of the other education coordinators,” Amparo said. “We have Zoom meetings, and we always get together at the Winter Meetings as well. I have my little clique with the Twins, the Phillies, the Guardians, the Marlins and the Orioles, so we always get together monthly and we meet at one of our academies. We just brainstorm some ideas because the whole purpose of this is to build better men.”

The main focus of the department is its structured curriculum and syllabus for English-language acquisition through intentional, progressive lessons that are tailored to the realities of a career in professional baseball. There is a standard curriculum, but the teachers are given autonomy to change things as long as it’s beneficial to the players.

“We collaborate on it,” Amparo said. “We have our Rockies Evaluation Matrix with these ‘can do’ statements for different levels. It goes from white, which is rookie, to purple, which is more advanced. So even though we have this as a guideline, I give them the autonomy on lesson plans and projects. One thing that I encourage for the affiliates is to do more interactions with the media and talking with more native speakers. In Arizona, we’ve done presentations to local high schools there. We meet monthly and [the teachers] always come to me with a project or idea that they want to do and as long as it aligns with our matrix of what we’re trying to do, I give them autonomy to do it.”

Other lessons the Rockies have implemented include a spelling bee competition, an egg drop competition, play-by-play commentary, mock commercials, and chess tournaments. Additionally, the players take workshops on financial literacy, contract negotiations and general communications. They also learn vocational skills such as graphic design and PC repair.

Closing thoughts

The Rockies were ahead of the game when it came to helping their Latino players acclimate to working, living, and playing baseball in the United States.

Next week, I’ll discuss the intricacies of the curriculum itself.

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On the farm

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 17, Oklahoma City Comets 4

Just like the big league club, the Triple-A Rockies beat the Triple-A Dodgers. And while the Rockies made things close at the end, the Isotopes jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back, including a six-run seventh. They scored in every inning except for the second and eighth, and there was scoring by at least one team in every inning. Every single Isotopes starter had at least one hit except for Charlie Condon (No. 1 PuRP), but he went 0-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored and two strikeouts. Sterlin Thompson (No. 13 PuRP) was the belle of the ball, going 4-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored. Adael Amador, Cole Carrigg (No. 4 PuRP) and Braxton Fulford each had three hits, and Blaine Crim had two.

On the pitching side, starter Sean Sullivan (No. 8 PuRP) tossed five innings and allowed three runs on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts.

Double-A: CANCELLED: Hartford Yard Goats vs. Richmond Flying Squirrels

Sunday’s Yard Goats game against the Richmond Flying Squirrels (San Francisco Giants) was cancelled due to inclement weather and will not be rescheduled since Richmond doesn’t return to Hartford this season. The Yard Goats will begin a six-game road trip to Portland, Maine against the Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) on Tuesday.

High-A: Vancouver Canadians 5, Spokane Indians 2

The Indians struggled against the Canadians again on Sunday afternoon. The pitching staff performed well, with starter Brody Brecht (No. 3 PuRP) throwing three innings without allowing a hit nor a run while walking two and striking out five. Nathan Blasick pitched 0.2 scoreless innings with two hits, a walk and two strikeouts, but Stu Flesland III struggled in his 3.1 innings of work. The left-hander allowed three runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Lefty Justin Loer came in for the final two innings, and allowed two more runs on a home run with two hits and a strikeout.

On the hitting side, only three prospects recorded hits: LF Jacob Humphrey (2-for-4, R, BB), SS Kelvin Hidalgo (3-for-4, RBI, K) and 3B Jacob Hinderleider (1-for-4, R, RBI, K).

Single-A: Ontario Tower Buzzers 23, Fresno Grizzlies 7

While the Triple-A Rockies piled it on the Triple-A Rockies, unfortunately the Single-A Rockies were piled on by the Single-A Dodgers. On the pitching side, the only pitcher to have a clean outing was RHP Manuel Olivares, who allowed two hits with a strikeout in just 0.1 innings of work. Of the six pitchers used, LHP Brady Parker got the worst of it — allowing six runs on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Interestingly, he was one of three that didn’t allow a home run, but was still saddled with the loss.

On the hitting side, Roldy Brito (No. 11 PuRP), Derek Bernard and Tanner Thatch each recorded two hits. Jeremy Ciriasco recorded one, but the rest of the lineup was silent. That said, they only racked up nine strikeouts as a team.

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‘Seeing her is a piece of history’: Ohtani, Roberts meet 100-year-old Nagasaki survivor | MLB.com

Ahead of the Rockies game on Saturday, 100-year-old Momoyo Nakamoto Kelley was in attendance and was able to meet her favorite Japanese players — Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tomoyuki Sugano — and Dave Roberts, who was born in Japan. After surviving the atomic bomb at 19, Kelley and her husband emigrated to the US in the 1950’s and now reside in Salt Lake City.

1 early-season development each team can believe in | MLB.com

The Rockies have been tinkering with their pitching strategy. Thomas Harding specifically cites Chase Dollander, Antonio Senzatela and Zach Agnos as positive developments in the bullpen, as the Rockies attempt to not burn it out too early in the season.

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Good morning, baseball fans!

It’s a new week of San Francisco Giants baseball, so let’s take a look at what’s on deck for the week.

The Giants are off today, but they’re heading back home to Oracle Park for both series this week.

First up, the Los Angeles Dodgers are coming to town tomorrow for a three-game series. After that, it will be a three-game series against the Miami Marlins over the weekend.

Any other week, I would pick the Dodgers series as the one I am most interested in for the week. But I’m actually going to be attending a game this weekend, so I’m going to have to say the Marlins series. Not only because I will be in attendance, but because they might actually stand a chance of winning some of those. Maybe. The Marlins are fairly good so far this year. But I’ll take them over the Dodgers, I guess.

Which series are you most interested in this week?

After the Red Sox finally got something resembling momentum going with back-to-back series victories against a very good Brewers team and a Cardinals team that has made anybody following MLB say “Hey they actually aren’t as bad as I thought they’d be,” they go out and lay eggs like that over the past week. That display during the first two games in Minnesota was brutal—more on that first game in just a bit—while I feel like I’d be able to buy SB Nation myself if I had a dollar for every time Boston failed to capitalize with runners in scoring position over the weekend against Detroit.

They couldn’t even climb back to a .500 record for the week during Margaritaville Day on Sunday. If the Sox can’t get up for Jimmy and his memory, maybe we really are doomed this season.

I suppose being this far below .500 a few weeks into the season beats being 2-8, but only just barely. “Yeah, no shit Fitz,” I hear you clicking away at your keyboard, “that’s how numbers work.”

That’s fair, but at least there had been some signs of life in recent days. Your ace getting his ass kicked to begin the week was awful, but six runs that night was nothing to sneeze at even if the game was completely gone. Another crooked number in the finale against the Twins was nice, even if the offense was then sluggish the next few games. Ranger Suarez had himself a great night Friday, making it two quality starts in a row. My wife got one of those City Connect cooler cups on Friday, so that’s an improvement I guess.

Jokes aside, while there were some positive-ish developments in recent days, I can’t shake the sense of disappointment thus far—and I’m sure you can’t either, dear reader.

It’s Monday Morning Brushback time, y’all.

I Don’t Even Have A Fun Pun For This Section

I don’t know how to properly start this section other than by simply asking: what in the world happened to Garrett Crochet on Monday?

In less than two innings of work, he coughed up eleven runs (ten of which were earned; kinda funny to me that one of those runs was unearned but I digress) across nine hits. One of the best strikeout pitchers in the game failed to retire anybody by way of the K in his abbreviated start, by far the worst one of his Red Sox tenure thus far. Let’s hope it remains as his worst start for Boston, I guess.

Our very own Keagan Stiefel did a nice write-up on a not-so-nice appearance from our ace, so I’d suggest reading that if you want to dive a bit more into that disaster class. The headline you need to know after this stinker, though, is that the stuff was down across the board. The velo specifically dropped by at least a full tick on all of his offerings in Minnesota.

Garrett Crochet has given up 10 runs and gotten three outs against the Twins.

His velocity is down across the board. pic.twitter.com/Sg0j3ENTOh

— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) April 14, 2026

For what it’s worth, both Crochet himself along with the coaching staff said there were no injury concerns after the game. Crochet was even surprised that there were dips in the velo.

Alex Cora didn't have a reason for Garrett Crochet's diminished velocity, but nothing is physically wrong.

"He's healthy, so that's the most important thing." pic.twitter.com/FMy4OPUph4

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) April 14, 2026

Garrett Crochet didn't seem to know his velocity was down after the game. When he found it, he said it wasn't anything to fret about it.

"I don't really have anything to say, I'm just gonna flush it as best I can. Move on to the next one. They had a good approach." pic.twitter.com/3qS5DrGvMc

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) April 14, 2026

A couple of things here. First, I’m glad he’s seemingly healthy. A BBQ chicken alert for the ace of the pitching staff would be so deflating. Yet at the same time, I don’t know whether to express concern that no one seems to know what the hell happened against the Twins or to just laugh at that fact. Your prized pig goes out and gets slaughtered and then you just throw your hands up and mumble “I dunno” in confusion—that’s just funny.

Maybe it really was just a one-off, bad night that we can laugh about in the future………

……….but is it almost as bad to just drop a complete, regular turd?

—————- (EVERYTHING I WROTE BEFORE THIS POINT WAS ON SUNDAY MORNING; THE REST IS SUNDAY EVENING)

I mean, I guess I’m a dumbass. I don’t have the energy (nor the time; I have a real life job I gotta be ready for) to dive into what the hell happened on Sunday. I can’t hit you with “WELL ACTUALLYYYYYYY” points when Crochet—the guy who is supposed to be the stopper—goes and does whatever the fuck that was on Sunday. No excuses for that; you’re a smarter reader than that, so I will not patronize you with the “bright side” after that display.

To his credit, Crochet is facing the music.

Garrett Crochet took a long time with the media after the game. Made sure to answer every question.

Made it clear the team is frustrated.

"You can't be out of the playoffs in April. There's still a lot of time for us to start playing our best baseball. If we were doing it right… pic.twitter.com/ltp87EHKob

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) April 20, 2026

Either way, dude, come the fuck on.

I dunno man. I’m pissed. I’m tired. Let’s move on; I don’t wanna think about this bad performance anymore. What’s gonna happen? Am I gonna complain about another pitc———

Cut The Crap

Have you noticed how often Red Sox pitchers, specifically Red Sox starters, have been throwing cutters this year?

After featuring it as a secondary pitch in year’s past, Sonny Gray has made it his primary offering by throwing it 22% of the time. The cutter had overtaken the four-seam fastball as Crochet’s most-thrown pitch thus far in 2026 (prior to Sunday’s start, for full transparency). Ranger Suarez has thrown it 20% of the time, which would be a career high if that usage keeps up.

It seems like we’re building most of the plane out of cutters. In a vacuum, perhaps that idea has some merit. The bite of a cutter can be lethal in either extend the zone to get guys to chase, or to tie batters up with something on their hands, all while keeping batters honest with some velo to go along with the movement. Mixing the glove-side movement of a cutter along with, say, any arm-side movement you could get with a sinker is a solid combo. When executed well, it’s a damn good type of fastball.

That’s the thing, though: it’s not always executed well. Not everyone has a Mariano Rivera-y cutter.

The cut fastball for Mr. Gray, for example, has worked for him so far. Opposing batters have only slugged .263 when hacking at Sonny’s cutter, and that pitch’s expected slugging percentage is only at .327. It’s not like he’s getting barreled up on that pitch (maybe on other pitches, but that’s another story). While the Minnesota game might have thrown a wrench into Crochet’s 2026 sample, the cutter worked really well for him last year; hitters facing Garrett in 2025 slugged south of .400 and had an xwOBA (translate to “quality of contact” for those of you who like plain English; can’t blame ya, feels like there are new analytical stats invented every day!) just below .300 when facing his cutter.

But consider someone like Brayan Bello, who’s cutter usage has jumped from 16% last year to 26% this year. It’s overtaken his sweeper as his primary glove-side offering in 2026.

My question about that change is simple: Why? Why are we doing that? I understand I’m doing an armchair pitching coach thing here, but when you look at the numbers here it’s a bit of a head scratcher. Bello’s cutter has, by and large, not been a valuable pitch.

He introduced a cutter into his arsenal (1-2 to Man City, uggh) in 2023—and he only threw it 38 times that year, so I recognize that it’s not a significant enough a sample to base an entire thesis on—to the tune of a 1.083 slugging percentage and a .665 xSLG. Maybe that’s why he didn’t throw it a lot in 2023; in fact, he shelved it completely in 2024. After a fallow year, Bello threw his cut fastball 423 times in 2025, though the results were still not amazing: .437 slugging percentage, but a .506 xSLG.

I don’t know about you, but when I look at those numbers I don’t see a pitch that is screaming to become the second-most deployed offering and the primary pitch to throw if you’re looking for any glove-side movement. With that in mind, maybe you understand why I’m confused about an uptick of ten percentage points for this cut fastball from Bello. You may also not be surprised to learn that after 94 cutters thrown in 2026, Bello’s slugging percentage surrendered on that pitch is .471 (so, worse than last year) on a .541 xSLG (again, worse that last year). Bello is throwing a not-great pitch more often this season and getting not-great results.

The one thing I’ll say in defense of his cutter is that he’s getting a ton of swings-and-misses on it so far this year (57.4% whiff rate, damn), but forgive me if that put away potential isn’t moving me a ton considering that he’s failed to make it through five innings in three of his first four appearances this year.

The dude had a 3.35 ERA last year! The FIP was north of 4.00 in 2025, sure, but there’s a solid starter in there that doesn’t need to have his repertoire scrambled to succeed. I’m all for trying new things on the mound to see if it works, and perhaps we’re still in the tinkering phase. Not all experiments work, though, and I’m curious to see if/when the Sox pull the plug on a cutter-dominant approach for Bello in 2026.

Cool As Hell

Fortunately for you, dear reader, I come bearing great news: I have secured two water cooler cups from Fenway Park.

I love consuming. Consuming—especially at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts—is my favorite activity in the world.

And isn’t that the most important factor of the last two home serieseseseseseses? The fact that I’m still consuming? The fact that that why we play at Fenway? Everything is great! I love baseball! Everything rules! Nothing is bad! It’s illegal to say that things are bad! We’re good! Baseball! Sports!

Song of the Week: “Electric Zoo” by SpongeBob I Think???? I Dunno Here’s A 10 Hour Version

Baseball!

Be good to each other and go sports!

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The Detroit Tigers seek a series victory when they face the Boston Red Sox this morning for the annual Patriots Day game.

Boston starter Sonny Gray has seen a sharp drop in strikeouts, and my Tigers vs. Red Sox predictions expect a Tigers victory. 

Read on for my MLB picks for Monday, April 20. 

Who will win Tigers vs Red Sox today: Tigers moneyline (+123)

Jack Flaherty turned around an early-season stinker, allowing only two earned runs while adding 13 strikeouts across his last 11 2/3 innings. 

He draws a Boston Red Sox lineup that ranks 23rd against right-handed pitching with a 25% strikeout rate and the second-lowest ISO against righties.

Sonny Gray gives up hits. His .295 xBA means the Detroit Tigers, who are slugging .403 against right-handed pitching, will put the ball in play all afternoon. 

Detroit has won eight of its last nine, and is the right bet today. 

Tigers vs Red Sox Over/Under pick: Under 8 (-105)

Neither of these offenses is built to put up crooked numbers, and everything about this matchup points in the same direction.

Gray controls the strike zone as well as anyone in the rotation and keeps the ball on the ground, while Flaherty has enough swing-and-miss stuff to strand traffic. 

Boston has scored only four runs and is 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position, while Detroit is 5-for-16 with RISP during this series. 

Five of their previous six meetings have gone Under the total, and today's will too. 

Tigers vs Red Sox odds

• Moneyline: Tigers +122 | Red Sox -127
• Run line: Tigers +1.5 (-194) | Red Sox -1.5 (+144)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (+108) | Under 8.5 (-113)

Tigers vs Red Sox trend

The game total has ended Under the total in six of their previous 10 meetings. Find more MLB betting trends for Tigers vs. Red Sox.

How to watch Tigers vs Red Sox and game info

Tigers vs Red Sox latest injuries

Tigers vs Red Sox weather

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