Apr 30, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves catcher Drake Baldwin (30) tags out Detroit Tigers third baseman Hao-Yu Lee (50) during the ninth inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
After an exciting walkoff win that extended their season-opening streak of not losing series on Wednesday night, the Braves got to work in a short turnaround matchup against the Tigers with a chance for a sweep. For a while, a sweep seemed likely, but the Braves were undone by poor pitching and defense in the game’s final frames. Meanwhile, they had their hands relatively full with Framber Valdez, scoring just two runs en route to a 5-2 loss.
Bryce Elder got the start, and, well, it looks like at least in the early going, the universe is paying him back a bit for his lines in past years. Elder’s overall line wasn’t all that great, with a 5/3 K/BB ratio and a paltry 22 percent grounder rate that is the lowest he’s ever recorded in a start, but he nonetheless deked and ducked his way through six innings, only getting a run on his ledger the third time through.
Elder got into a spot of trouble in the first with a random two-out, four-pitch walk after a single. He followed with a get-me-over sinker that Spencer Torkelson took a very awkward swing on and lifted harmlessly to right field. After a quick second, another walk and a single put two on against Elder with one out, but a groundout and a wave from Riley Greene on a hanging, crushable slider stifled that threat. Elder worked around a Torkelson leadoff single in the fourth, and had a 1-2-3 fifth thanks to Ronald Acuña Jr. throwing out Gleyber Torres trying to stretch a down-the-line single into a double.
While all this was happening, the Braves opened up a 2-0 lead on Valdez. They stranded a couple in the first as Valdez bamboozled Austin Riley, but plated the game’s first run when Eli White singled Kyle Farmer (making his first start of the year) home on a hard liner to center. The Braves had a chance for more, especially when a Valdez pitch clipped Acuña’s foot, but it was confusingly ruled as not doing so on replay because there apparently “wasn’t enough evidence” to overturn the call at the plate, and consecutive strikeouts ended the rally. Not to worry, though, as Mauricio Dubon’s single to center in the third plated Ozzie Albies, who had a leadoff double earlier in the inning.
The Tigers got to Elder in the sixth — Riley Greene drew another walk, Torkelson hit another single, and after Elder battled back to strike out Kerry Carpenter on a high four-seamer (for the second time in the game), Matt Vierling blooped a ball in front of Acuña to plate Greene. A soft tapper in front of the plate ended the rally and Elder’s outing. Again, hooray for the 2.95 FIP (and one run charged in six innings), but a 5.10 xFIP is Elder’s second-worst mark of the season, and now gives him three straight starts with a below-average xFIP.
Valdez rolled through the middle innings, as the Braves made ten straight outs after Dubon’s RBI single. He finished with a sparkling 0.95 FIP and 2.15 xFIP in six innings of 8/0 K/BB ratio ball, by far his best start of the year so far.
Tyler Kinley had an adventurous seventh. The Tigers loaded the bases with one out on a walk, a “normal” single, and then a slow bouncer. But, Kinley struck out Greene on three pitches, showing him two sliders in the zone that were fouled off, and then burying a slow curve in the dirt for a whiff. Torkelson then followed with a hard liner to left, but Dubon was able to run it down, and the Braves still led.
The Braves got a couple on against reliever Drew Anderson in the seventh (Acuña two-out double, intentional walk), but Albies grounded out. And then, things fell apart.
The Braves’ bullpen has been a bit short-handed, somewhat in preventable ways, and somewhat just due to the injury to Raisel Iglesias and the fact that Dylan Lee missed a game on paternity leave before returning and throwing a lot of pitches. While I don’t really blame Walt Weiss and company for messing around at all given where the season is, going with your “guys you don’t really wanna use” relievers with a one-run lead will blow up in your face, and yeah, it did here.
Joel Payamps got the call for the eighth, and woofing commenced. Carpenter crushed his fastball to center, where Eli White didn’t track it down — it bounced off the boards for a triple. Vierling followed with a weak bouncer that nonetheless got by given where Riley was positioned at third for a game-tying double. After a walk and a strikeout, Payamps was out and Aaron Bummer was in — but Bummer missed with four straight to Kevin McGonigle, who drew his third walk of the day. Gleyber Torres followed with a weak fly that pushed the go-ahead run across; Bummer ended the top of the eighth with a strikeout of pinch-hitter Jahmai Jones.
Oh, but we weren’t done with foibling (that’s not a word) yet. After Anderson threw a perfect second frame of work, it was Jose Suarez time with a one-run deficit, and… yeah. Suarez looked dominant striking out both Greene and Torkelson, but there’s his enigma in two-minute showcase: he goes from tantalizing to unpitchable from batter to batter, if not from pitch to pitch. Despite being so close to giving the Braves a chance to mount another ninth-inning rally, Suarez walked Wenceel Perez (after being ahead of him 1-2). Vierling followed with a hard grounder that A) Riley couldn’t snag, sending it shooting up in the air, B) Mike Yastrzemski goofed picking up in left, and C) resulted in a slow replay back home, such that D) Perez scored. After another walk (I want to spray Jose Suarez with a spray bottle so badly), Dillon Dingler uncorked a double down the left-field line, which made it 5-2 but also sent the game to the bottom of the ninth as an attempt at a sixth Detroit run was thrown out at home.
The bottom of the ninth, now with a three-run deficit in play, was not very exciting. Facing Kyle Finnegan, all the Braves managed was a one-out single by Yastrzemski. Acuña went down looking to end the game.
This was not really a showcase game for the Braves, as they managed just two extra-base hits, and were diced up to the tune of an 11/1 K/BB ratio by Valdez and the subsequent Detroit relief duo. Meanwhile, Braves arms managed just a 10/8 K/BB ratio.
But hey, they’re still doing great this season, they won the series yesterday, and now they’re off to see what adventures await them on a long and hopefully fruitful road trip. Stay tuned.
CINCINNATI, OHIO - APRIL 30: Tyler Freeman #2 of the Colorado Rockies celebrates with Andy González #81 as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on April 30, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Jeff Dean/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Missed opportunities at the plate once again spelled doom for the Colorado Rockies as they dropped the rubber match 6-4 to the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday. The Rockies end the road trip having gone 4-2 and end the month of April 13-14.
Striking First
The Rockies started the game on a high note against Andrew Abbott. Brenton Doyle managed to draw a one-out walk in the top of the first inning to give Colorado the first baserunner. After Hunter Goodman was called out on strikes, and Doyle swiped his seventh bag of the year, it fell to Tyler Freeman to bring him home. Notoriously good with runners in scoring position, Freeman again came up in the clutch to belt a two-run home run to right field and give the Rockies an early 2-0 lead. It was the first home run of the season for Freeman that traveled 357 feet to right field.
With an immediate lead in hand, Michael Lorenzen set out to work against the Reds’ lineup. Cincinnati got on the board in the bottom of the second inning thanks to the red-hot Nathaniel Lowe. The first-baseman blasted an 84.2 mph 0-1 changeup from Lorenzen 399 feet, his fifth home run of the season. Unfazed, Lorenzen continued to attack the zone, putting up zeroes over the next two innings.
The Reds struck again in the fifth after Spencer Steer drew a lead-off walk. After a strikeout of Will Benson, TJ Friedl stepped up to the plate and delivered a go-ahead home run to give the Reds a 3-2 lead. A fastball on the inside part of the plate was lofted out to right field and while it looked like Troy Johnston may have a chance at a play, the ball got out just far enough out of reach for Friedl’s second home run of the year.
Lorenzen was chased from the game after giving up a one-out double to Lowe in the bottom of the sixth, who would eventually score. His day ended after 5.1 innings of work, having allowed four runs on four hits with five strikeouts and two walks. While the box score may not reflect it, Lorenzen pitched fairly well in the game.
Once again, the Rockies found themselves in a familiar situation they were in on Tuesday offensively. Before the Friedl home run in the bottom half of the fifth inning, the Rockies had their best chance to score in the top half. Kyle Karros, Ezequiel Tovar, and Jordan Beck all managed to reach, loading the bases with one out. Leading 2-1 at the time, the Rockies needed to keep building and had Doyle coming up to the plate. Unfortunately, he poked a groundball to Elly De La Cruz, who promptly fired the ball home for the forceout. Goodman then followed with a strikeout to end the scoring threat.
Colorado didn’t manage to score again until the ninth inning after the Reds built up a 6-2 lead. Mickey Moniak delivered an RBI single, and Jake McCarthy drove in another on a sacrifice fly. Representing the tying run, Goodman flew out to center field to end the rally.
On the day the Rockies out-hit the Reds 9-7, while striking out nine times and drawing three walks.
Up Next
The Rockies head home to welcome the Atlanta Braves to Coors Field on Friday. Jose Quintana (1-2, 4.91 ERA) will take the mound and face off against Grant Holmes (2-1, 3.62 ERA).
Yankees face a tough decision on Anthony Volpe’s role upon his return from injury.
José Caballero’s stellar play at shortstop complicates Anthony Volpe’s path back to the starting lineup.
Yankees’ aggressive roster moves suggest Anthony Volpe may have a shorter leash this season.
Whether the Yankees activate Anthony Volpe from the injured list on Friday, or wait till Monday, may be the simple part.
Exactly what his role is and how long of a runway he gets to prove himself in it is the decision that was staring down the Yankees on Thursday’s off day before opening a four-game set against the Orioles on Friday in The Bronx.
Aaron Boone had said the Yankees would re-evaluate Volpe’s status on Thursday after he played back-to-back nine-inning games at shortstop for Double-A Somerset, giving him 10 total games (with 34 plate appearances) on his rehab assignment. All indications are that he is healthy and feeling strong, following October surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, and he just needed to build his workload in what was essentially his spring training.
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Volpe seemed to be trending towards a Friday return, though Boone would not yet commit to that on Wednesday, and given that his 20-day rehab clock runs through Sunday, it is possible he could get a few more days of rehab games in.
“We’ll see,” Boone said five times answering two questions about Volpe’s status, including whether he would play in a role like he has in the past.
Nearly three weeks ago, general manager Brian Cashman said Volpe reclaiming his starting shortstop job upon returning from the IL had “always been the plan.”
“But ultimately, that’ll be the manager’s call,” Cashman added, as he usually does on issues regarding lineups and playing time.
Anthony Volpe’s role is unclear as he prepares to return to the Yankees. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Of course, that was easier to say back then, on April 10, when José Caballero was off to a slow start, finishing the day batting .150 with a .384 OPS in 12 games along with two errors. In 18 games since then, Caballero was batting .338 with a .915 OPS. While his underlying offensive metrics suggest that may not be sustainable, his six Defensive Runs Saved were the most of any shortstop entering Thursday, his 12 steals were tied for the most in the American League (as were his four caught stealings) and his 1.2 bWAR was tied for sixth among all shortstops.
Boone recently described Caballero as a “winning player” who “does so many things to help you win a game,” but the manager has declined to publicly reveal a plan for what the playing time will look like at shortstop once Volpe returns — perhaps because he is sensitive to Caballero potentially losing some at-bats while he was playing a key role in their success.
“Cabby’s playing at a really high level,” Boone said earlier this week. “Obviously we think very highly of Anthony too. But those are answers for another day. Bottom line is José has learned a lot of opportunities and has been right in the middle of us winning a lot of games.”
All of this may have been manager-speak from Boone, not wanting to make any proclamations until the Yankees were ready to activate Volpe — though even after, he likely won’t — because of the possibility that something could have changed the equation before then.
But when it boils down to it, the reality is that Caballero offers much more value in a utility/10th man role than Volpe does. He can still play shortstop on occasion, but also bounce around to left field, third base or second base against a lefty, or be a legitimate speed weapon off the bench.
All along, the expectation has been that Volpe will get some kind of runway to start at shortstop and prove that his rough season last year was due in part to playing through the shoulder injury. His defense prior to that had been mostly strong while his bat has been wildly inconsistent over three seasons in the big leagues.
Jose Caballero has improved offensively over the last three weeks. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
“Volpe’s a big piece of what we’re doing here and has been the past couple years,” Aaron Judge said. “Hopefully we can get him back and he keeps swinging the bat like he is in his rehab starts [10-for-33], which has been great. The boys definitely miss him. … It’ll be good to see him back in pinstripes.”
But as he begins a crucial Year 4 — with a potential longer-term replacement, George Lombard Jr., just promoted to Triple-A — Volpe’s leash may be shorter than it has been in the past, especially because the Yankees now have a real option behind him in Caballero.
They have also been more aggressive in their roster moves early this season than in years past — calling up Elmer Rodríguez for Luis Gil and designating Randal Grichuk for assignment earlier than they needed to to give Jasson Domínguez a longer stay, to name a few.
“That’s the thing, we have real options waiting in the wings,” Boone said Wednesday when asked about that aggressiveness. “So I think that’s good for creating competition, and ultimately just serves us well, whether an injury comes up or whether a guy earns more and more opportunities with performance. I like where we’re at.”
Apr 30, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Detroit Tigers pitcher Framber Valdez (59) pitches against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
After losing two in a row against the Braves and dropping below the .500 mark for season wins, the Tigers were hoping to dodge a series sweep before heading back to Detroit. Despite a losing record, the Tigers only trailed the division-leading Guardians by half a game, because the AL Central is not having a great year so far. To get themselves back on track, Detroit had Framber Valdez on the mound, and the Braves would be depending on Bryce Elder, who is off to a really strong start this season, three wins coming into today’s game, a 1.93 ERA and 0.96 FIP. There’s a reason Atlanta has the best record in baseball right now, so the Tigers would have a fight on their hands to come away with the win.
The Tigers made a push to get baserunners on in the first. Colt Keith got a two-out single, and right on his heels, Riley Greene took a walk. However, a Spencer Torkelson flyout ended the inning, leaving both baserunners stranded. In the home half, Drake Baldwin got a one-out single. Valdez does typically pitch to contact, getting a lot of outs on the ground, but the Braves were going to take advantage of that where they could. Ozzie Albies then singled, putting two on. A Matt Olson groundout got the second out of the inning, but advanced both runners into scoring position. A strikeout did end the inning, thankfully, with no harm done, but a decidedly rough start to the game.
The second inning saw the Tigers go 1-2-3, with bonus thanks to a Braves ABS challenge that ended in the second out of the inning for Matt Vierling. Valdez really started to struggle in the home half, with a leadoff hit-by-pitch to Mauricio Dubon. Kyle Farmer then singled. With one out an Eli White single brought the first run of the game in for Atlanta. There was then some lengthy drama as Ronald Acuña Jr decided he was hit by a pitch and walked to first. The home plate ump belatedly disagreed, and there was a review requested. Some debate later, it was determined he wasn’t hit, and he came back to the plate to get struck out for the second out of the inning. Very peculiar. By some miracle the inning ended with only the one run scored.
Kevin McGonigle got a one-out walk in the top of the third. Right after him, Gleyber Torres singled. A Colt Keith groundout managed to advance both runners into scoring position. Two outs followed, though, leaving things scoreless for the Tigers. Ozzie Albies doubled to start the home half. With one out, Valdez threw a pitch so wild he might as well have been 50 Cent throwing the opening pitch of a game. Albies easily advanced to third. With two outs, Dubon singled, bringing Albies home. Kyle Farmer then hit into a force out to end the inning.
In the fourth, Spencer Torkelson got things going with a leadoff single. Too bad three outs followed that. Thankfully for the Tigers Valdez turned things around in the home half of the inning getting the Braves out in order for the first time in the game.
With two outs in the fifth, Torres singled, but he tried to leg it out into a double and got snagged at second, ending the inning. Valdez continued to look good in the bottom of the inning, going three-up, three-down.
In the top of the sixth, Riley Greene got a one-out walk. Spencer Torkelson followed that with a single. With two outs, Matt Vierling singled, bringing Greene home and putting the Tigers on the board for the first time in the game. They’d need to settle for the one run, but it put them within one run of tying things up.
The Braves once again went 1-2-3 in the home half. If Valdez had this kind of command against the Braves all game, things might be looking very different at the moment.
After six innings and one run, Elder’s day was done. He was replaced by Tyler Kinley. McGonigle had a foul tip hit him on the inside of the thigh and knee. It took a little bit for him to walk it off, but ouch. He worked a walk out of it, getting on base for the second time in the game (but not yet extending his impressive hitting streak). Torres won an ABS challenge by a sliver, then got a single. Colt Keith singled and suddenly the bases were loaded. A Torkelson lineout into left ended the inning, with three men left stranded and the Tigers still trailing. Not sure they’re going to see a better opportunity this game.
In the home half, Valdez was done as well, being replaced by Drew Anderson. Valdez’s final line for the game was 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K on 99 pitches. It started rough, but he really hit his stride mid-game, impressive against these red-hot Braves. With two outs, Acuña doubled. Anderson then walked Drake Baldwin intentionally. The Tigers got through a nail-biting inning with no runs added to the score.
In an effort to prove me wrong, Detroit got the eighth started with vigor. Kerry Carpenter kicked things off with a triple to dead center against new pitcher Joel Payamps. Matt Vierling, RBI hero, came in and singled, tying the game up 2-2.
Hao-Yu Lee took a walk. AJ Hinch went to his bench, swapping out Jake Rogers for Dillon Dingler. After striking out Dingler on a full count, Payamps was done, making way for Aaron Bummer. McGonigle walked for the third time in the game. Torres hit a sac fly, deep enough into the outfield to score Vierling and bumping the Tigers into the lead.
A pinch-hitting Jahmai Jones came in and ended the inning with a strikeout. Anderson continued for the eighth, getting three outs in a row.
José Suarez was the new Atlanta reliever for the ninth. While the Tigers were fighting it out in Atlanta, we got some updates from the minors regarding our injured players.
Per the transactions log, both Zach McKinstry and Max Anderson will begin rehab assignments with Lakeland tonight. pic.twitter.com/kEublsg03Y
A pinch-hitting Wenceel Perez worked a great at-bat and worked a walk, something the Tigers were doing well in this game. Vierling then continued his dominance against the Braves with a groundball that took a weird little hop. Thanks to a fielding error by Mike Yastrzemski, who couldn’t catch the little bobbling hit, and Perez made an incredible run from first all the way home on the play.
Lee walked for the second time in the game. Dingler then doubled right into the left field corner, giving Vierling enough leeway to get home for another run. Lee tried to get another one across, but was tagged out at home to end the inning. The Tigers were up 5-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Perhaps learning from last night’s walk-off nightmare, the Tigers turned things over to Kyle Finnegan for the ninth. Yastrzemski got a one-out single. With two outs, Yastrzemski advanced to second on defensive indifference. Finnegan worked out of the jam, getting the final out of the inning and the Tigers had a win to take them home and avoid the sweep.
CINCINNATI, OHIO - APRIL 30: Nathaniel Lowe #31 of the Cincinnati Reds celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ball Park on April 30, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Jeff Dean/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Things got off to a saucy start for the Cincinnati Reds in Thursday’s series finale against the Colorado Rockies in Great American Ball Park. If you, like me, are still trying to figure out exactly what that means, let’s just say that Andrew Abbott began the game by serving up a meatball that Tyler Freeman turned into a 2-run homer, a product of Abbott having again issued an ugly walk to put a runner on-base early.
That sequence has been the theme of the early going for Abbott, who in 2025 seemed to find ways to both limit those scenarios and pitch out of them when they did arise. 2026, though, has been very much the opposite, and the groans from those watching probably were audible in Colorado itself after it repeated itself again.
The best possible thing happened from then on, however – Abbott actually settled in.
Cincinnati’s All-Star lefty ground his way through 6.0 IP in total and yielded no more runs on the day, scattering 5 hits and a pair of walks against 5 K to earn his first win of the season. That win came thanks to the bats of Nate Lowe and TJ Friedl, each of whom homered off former Red Michael Lorenzen as Cincinnati rallied back to win the game 6-4.
Things got saucier in the Top of the 9th when Reds closer Emilio Pagan came on in a non-save situation and immediately began operating the singles dispenser. Pagan had only pitched once since April 19th (on April 25th) and needed work, and he clearly had some rust on his right arm on the day, but the Reds made enough plays defensively to seal the win – and yet another series victory.
Other Notes
The Reds move to 20-11 on the season.
Lowe went 2 for 3 with a walk, double, and a pair of runs scored, and earns today’s Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game. There’s no way you keep him out of the lineup even when Eugenio Suarez returns.
Spencer Steer began the season looking awful, going 1 for his first 17 across four games played. Entering play today, though, he’d hit .260/.337/.519 across his most recent 23 games (86 PA), which is the kind of bat that can make this lineup shimmy. He went 2 for 3 with a walk and a huge 2-run double that provided the insurance runs Pagan ended up needing, and he’s making a wonderful case that he should be hitting in the top third of the order once again.
JJ Bleday walked twice before being replaced by Dane Myers late. It would be super cool if the good version of Bleday is what the Reds signed out of the bargain bin.
Cincinnati heads out next on a crucial road trip through the NL Central, first to Pittsburgh and then to the north side of Chicago to face the Cubs. They do so as the current 1st place club in the NL Central, and it’s a pleasure to be able to finally write these kinds of sentences.
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 5: Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno in attendance for an opening day game between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on April 5, 2024 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images) | Getty Images
In 2022, the “It’s Not My Money(ball)” series was created in response to the owners’ lockout, which disrupted that year’s Spring Training and arguably cost Clayton Kershaw a perfect game in Minneapolis (I had fun). As the season completes its first month, the World Baseball Classic now a memory, we must conclude the revival of this series as trouble looms in the distance, hanging in the air, exactly in the way a brick does not.
This trilogy in five parts (it’s yet another Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy joke) was initially conceived from a single essay that ballooned in size to the point where a split was necessary. As I worked on Pandora’s Boxand MLB’s Dirty Dozen, I realized there was a deeper story than skinflint owners and a perception problem that the Dodgers are more than happy to lean into. Before any new business, we take a well-deserved victory lap.
Called it!
Last time, in The Vulture of Private Equity, I called out the practices, in part, of both the San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox. The essay was published on April 23. On April 24, word broke that the Giants were selling a portion of the team to a private equity firm owned by Joshua Kusher.
Joshua Kushner, the brother of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared, announced on [Twitter] on Friday that his firm Thrive Capital has agreed to acquire a stake in the San Francisco Giants. The news of Thrive’s purchase was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
“Our first partnership is expected to be with the San Francisco Giants – an institution built on more than a century of shared identity and community, and among the most iconic sports franchises in America,” Kushner wrote. “We have reached an agreement, subject to league approval, to acquire an ownership stake. We feel privileged by the opportunity to be long-term partners to the Giants.”
Sometimes, a demonstration of the point requires no further explanation, apart from wondering what other landmarks the Giants will purchase, rather than properly spending on their mediocre baseball team.
I suppose the baseball equivalent of “shut up and dribble” is “pipe down and shag some flies.” The firings will continue until morale improves, eh? Joon Lee wrote about the ills of private equity’s involvement in Boston, which can be read in parallel with the last feature in our series, from the perspective of a Red Sox fan. It’s not pretty.
Are the Sox better today than they were yesterday? Doubtful. Can they compete for a wild-card spot in a wide-open American League? Perhaps, if [interim manager Chad] Tracy somehow finds a way to get more out of the players than [former manager Alex] Cora did and the pitching starts to click.
Even with the offensive questions, Cora maintained the Sox would be competitive as long as their pitchers performed to expectations. They haven’t, at least to this point. It sure will be interesting Sunday to hear [Red Sox President Craig] Breslow explain why he left that part of the coaching staff largely untouched.
But enough about Breslow, who in the end is just another [owner John] Henry pawn, positioned to take the next fall. Under Henry, the Red Sox are incoherent, dysfunctional and forever poised to overreact. Yet, why should the owner operate any differently? The turnstiles at Fenway keep spinning. “Sweet Caroline” keeps playing.
Yo-played
For the record, the venerable, actual French yogurt company had nothing to do with this portion of this essay, but the pun was too delicious to pass up. Sam Blum of The Athleticwrote an investigative feature on a mostly fraudulent yogurt company, Cremily, which again has nothing to do with Yoplait, which needs to be read in full to be digested.
The story of Cremily features facts that would not be out of place in a screwball comedy that was an unholy mix of The Producers and Major League. In real life, though, the feature demonstrates a comical lapse in foresight, judgment, due diligence, and acumen one would expect of several major league franchises in dealing with a vendor who met the textbook definition of “overpromising and underdelivering.”
Cremily was a yogurt company that sold French frozen yogurt that was advertised as healthy, keto, and lactose-free, and claimed to donate 100 percent of its profits to “empower girls globally.” In retrospect, the company’s dubiousness probably should have been a little easier to spot.
Just in baseball alone, Cremily had partnerships with the Anaheim Angels, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, and Arizona Diamondbacks. During the Diamondbacks’ sweep of the Dodgers in the 2023 National League Division Series, there are photographs of the Dbacks celebrating in their pool (…but when the Dodgers do it, it’s gauche apparently…) with the yogurt company’s materials in the background.
From Mr. Blum:
Multiple former employees said Cremily could not produce product to scale, leaving teams with “untenable delays” and subsequently providing the Angels and Diamondbacks with product that was not made by Cremily. The Angels argued in a court filing Cremily was “fraudulently passing (third-party) ice cream off as its own” and knew it didn’t have a viable ice cream formula. An ex-marketing employee even said he was asked to create Cremily labels for generic ice cream.
Ultimately, the Angels and the Diamondbacks separately sued Cremily for failing to pay the teams under their respective deals. Naturally, the organizations that worked with Cremily were taciturn about their dealings.
Who wants to admit to being bamboozled? For the regular person, it happens from time to time without shame whatsoever, because they do not have a legal team or anyone conducting due diligence. What were these teams’ excuses? Ultimately, with Cremily, we’re talking about contract sums that would be a rounding error on a baseball team’s ledger, but there are genuine real-world consequences for those caught in the middle.
Saying the quiet part out loud
There is only one Shohei Ohtani, one Mookie Betts, one Paul Skenes — singular talents that make baseball fans take notice. While Max Muncy and Will Smith are part of the Dodgers’ constellation of stars, their initial pedigree was anything but.
Accordingly, nothing is stopping teams from investing in their front offices, whether in scouts, analytics, or a combination of both, to develop their own players. Yes, we mocked the Milwaukee Brewers for their overreliance on this strategy, but it’s better than the firm masterly inactivity employed by other clubs.
“The number one thing fans want is affordability,” Moreno said. “They want affordability. They want safety, and they want a good experience when they come to the ballpark. Believe it or not, winning is not in their top five.”
Moreno said that information comes from surveys they’ve done.
“The moms want to be able to afford to bring the kids,” Moreno said. “Moms make about 80% of the decisions. They want to be able to bring their kids and be affordable and they want safety and they want to have a good experience, so they get all the entertainment stuff or whatever. The purists, you know, it’s just straight winning.”
When asked what his top priority is, Moreno said: “For me, I’ve always wanted to win. It’s just what’s the cost of winning right now?”
(emphasis added.)
Naturally, everyone gravitated toward an owner’s statement alleging that fans do not care about winning, which is utterly ridiculous. Can you imagine having Ohtani for multiple years and not making the postseason, much less being a winning team? One need not imagine, but only watch what passes for Angels baseball.
Originally, the backhanded remark towards the Anaheim Angels spoke for itself, but owner Arte Moreno actually said the quiet part out loud and admitted what most Angels fans have known in the pit of their souls for years: winning is not a priority in Anaheim.
It went about as well as expected, as Moreno said the quiet part out loud: some of the more self-austere owners eschew scouting and analytics spending, which would not break the bank and would improve their respective clubs.
The creeping death that is private equity in baseball is slow and methodical until it’s not. So if teams are cutting useful spending on things like due diligence and scouting, and spending all this time and effort acquiring commercial real estate, what is the league focusing its energy on?
Baseball forgets the lessons of the Black Sox Scandal
At a time when there is a literal epidemic of addiction to online sports betting, especially with young men, in the United States, baseball has been slowly wrapping its figurative mitts around gambling for years.
It’s a shocking development, because gambling interests nearly toppled the sport in 1919, leading to the creation of the Commissioner’s office in the aftermath of arguably the worst gambling scandal in sports history: the fixing of the 1919 World Series by the Chicago White Sox.
One would think that a fixed World Series would act as such a scar on the psyche of baseball that no one would dare touch gambling again. But 107 years later, what is old is new again. Now-dead and still-disgraced gambler Pete Rose has been reinstated for Hall of Fame eligibility (after presidential pressure, which really merits its own essay from a site that focuses on the Cincinnati Reds), so clearly, time is a flat circle.
The Clase Scenario Writ Large
Before dealing with the pervasiveness of actual gambling in baseball, with actual sportbooks being on stadium grounds, with advertising dollars from DraftKings and the like seemingly everywhere, it often feels like the horse is so far out of the barn at this point that it will die of old age before it returns.
Seeing betting odds on AppleTV telecasts, and in the margins of articles in both reputable publications and blogs, there is an entire industry trying to get you to spend money. One would be tempted to tune it out as background noise. But one cannot ignore this growing problem, not anymore, as recently covered in The Guardian:
Gambling addiction is spiraling “out of control” in the US, a leading campaigner for stricter guardrails has warned, as experts from around the world are set to gather in Boston to push for more regulation of the industry.
The rapid expansion of online gambling, prediction markets and sports betting platforms, “demands a public health response”, according to Harry Levant, director of gambling policy at the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI), urging policymakers to intervene.
“You regulate the distribution, the speed, the type, the access to the product, because the product is what’s dangerous,” he said, calling for gambling to be treated like alcohol or tobacco. “The problem is the product, not the people,” said Levant. “We have a crisis here.”…
“We firmly believe gambling should be regulated like any other addictive product,” said Mark Gottlieb, executive director of PHAI.
Sports betting has been legalized in 39 states and Washington DC since the landmark 2018 supreme court ruling.
With such conditions, is it any wonder that players would eventually get drawn in? Most recently, Cleveland Guardians (and frequent hypothetical future Dodger) closer Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were indicted for fraud, conspiracy, and bribery stemming from an alleged scheme to rig individual pitches, resulting in gamblers winning hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Christopher G. Raia, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office, announced the government’s allegations against the pair:
…The defendants agreed in advance with their co-conspirators on specific pitches that they would throw in MLB games. The co-conspirators then used that information to place hundreds of fraudulent bets on those pitches.
Beginning in or around May 2023, Clase, a relief pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians, agreed with corrupt sports bettors to rig proposition bets – or “prop” bets – on particular pitches he threw. The bettors wagered on the speed and type of Clase’s pitches, based on information they knew in advance by coordinating with Clase, sometimes even during MLB games. Clase often threw these rigged pitches on the first pitch of an at-bat. To ensure certain pitches were called as balls, Clase threw many of them in the dirt, well outside the strike zone. The bettors used the advanced, inside information that Clase provided about his future pitches to wager thousands of dollars at online sportsbooks.
Clase at times received bribes and kickbacks from the bettors in exchange for providing advanced, non-public information. He also sometimes provided money to the bettors in advance to fund the scheme. The indictment includes numerous examples of pitches that Clase rigged, including one in the Eastern District of New York in a game against the New York Mets. In total, by rigging pitches, Clase caused his co-conspirator bettors to win at least $400,000 in fraudulent wagers.
In or around June 2025, Ortiz, a starting pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians, joined the criminal scheme. Together with Clase, Ortiz agreed in advance to throw balls (instead of strikes) on pitches in two games in exchange for bribes and kickbacks. Before an MLB game on June 15, 2025, Ortiz agreed with his co-conspirators to throw a ball on a particular pitch in exchange for bribes. The bettors agreed to pay Ortiz a $5,000 bribe for throwing the rigged pitch and Clase a $5,000 bribe for arranging the rigged pitch.
Clase and Ortiz are innocent until proven guilty, and their trial is scheduled to start on May 4, 2026. One would think even this offramp of a story would be enough to get the league, or any league, to reconsider buddying up to gambling interests.
Remember how bad everyone felt after 2017, which was only compounded after it was revealed that the Houston Astros were blatantly cheating? It was like reliving the loss all over again, but worse.
Mark my words: the shoe that will eventually drop from this entirely foreseeable fiasco will make any scandal (including the Clase affair) look insignificant and quaint in comparison. It is knowingly setting up shop in Chornobyl after the nuclear accident, and acting surprised both that something bad happened and that the consequences were somehow unforeseen.
Either way, it’s a lesson that must apparently be relearned, but it’s not my money(ball)…
If the story ended there, I could sign off, but it gets even worse. Sites like FanDuel, Draft Kings, etc., are the devil you know and the devil you can avoid. But the league has embraced something far more nihilistic, which deserves your full attention: prediction markets.
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
The red flags popped up immediately. Brandon Woodruff’s first fastball of the game came across the plate at 84.2 mph. I initially thought the radar gun was mis-calibrated, or the system registered an off-speed pitch as a fastball. But then the next one came in at 85 mph, and instantly things looked bad.
Brandon Woodruff looked uncomfortable delivering the baseball. His smooth, repeatable, athletic delivery looked rigid, unathletic, and unusual. He walked Geraldo Perdomo with some really bad misses but somehow rallied to get a pair of strikeouts and a scoreless first inning.
Pat Murphy, the pitching coaches, and the athletic trainer all huddled trying to figure out what to do. Woodruff went back out for the second inning as the bullpen stirred, but no one began throwing. After allowing a single to Lourdes Gurriel Jr, the Brewers had seen enough. Murphy, Chris Hook, and athletic trainer Brad Epstein went out to the mound and quickly Woodruff was removed from the game.
His fastball averaged 85.4 mph and he didn’t register a pitch above 86 mph. Woodruff’s average fastball velocity this season is 92.5 mph, a drop of 7.1 mph.
Murphy on the Brewers TV broadcast said “He wasn’t himself. He felt like, felt kind of dead. He said he didn’t feel any pain, just nothing was coming out. We’ve seen a little bit of this, but never at this level where he can’t get the ball over 85 mph. He’s so important to us. We’re not going to risk anything maybe long term by having him try to step on it.”
Woodruff missed the entire 2023 postseason and 2024 regular season with a shoulder capsule injury that required surgery. He finally returned to the big league rotation in the middle of last season and found great success. That was until a lat injury prevented him from being able to pitch in the postseason again last year.
Woodruff came into this season focused on maintaining his health so he could be available all season long and into the playoffs. That’s why his ramp up in spring was slower and why he did not start on Opening Day. The Brewers have been as careful with him as they can be to keep him on the mound throughout the whole season.
This article will be updated as new information is provided from the Brewers on this concerning injury for one of the Crew’s best starters and longest-tenured player.
Over the next several weeks, they’re hopeful the return of two superstar players can help.
Shortstop Mookie Betts and starting pitcher Blake Snell are approaching returns from injuries; Betts from an oblique strain that he suffered a week into the season, Snell from shoulder fatigue that plagued him through the winter and forced him to begin the year on the injured list.
Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell, who is recovering from shoulder fatigue, is scheduled for another rehab start Sunday with Triple-A Oklahoma City. Jason Szenes for CA Post
Snell has completed two minor-league starts already as part of a rehab assignment and is scheduled to next take the mound for four innings Sunday with Triple-A Oklahoma City. After that, the team will decide whether he’s ready to return or will need another minor-league outing to get further built up.
Betts, meanwhile, has been on a longer recovery track than he initially hoped. He said he recently experienced soreness following a batting practice session that forced him to temporarily slow his progression. However, he noted he remains on target for the four- to six-week timeline doctors gave him from the start, eyeing an activation sometime in mid-May.
“I think I’ve kind of started to turn the corner,” he said. “Where every day I’m starting to wake up and it feels good.”
While getting Betts and Snell back will be a boon for the Dodgers –– who started the year 15-4 but are just 5-7 the last two weeks –– it will create some tricky decisions elsewhere on the roster.
Good problems, Dodgers officials will note.
But, conundrums nonetheless.
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts is getting closer to returning from an oblique strain. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Start with Betts. In his absence, Hyeseong Kim was called up from Triple-A to platoon at shortstop with Miguel Rojas, while Alex Freeland got increased playing time as more of an everyday second baseman.
Kim and Freeland, who battled for the team’s final roster spot in spring training, have capitalized on their opportunities. Kim is batting .296 with two doubles, a home run and five stolen bases, while also cutting his strikeout rate from 31% last year to 21% this year. Freeland has started to shake off a slow opening three weeks, hitting .308 with two doubles and three RBIs over his past nine games (raising his season batting average to .234).
When Betts returns, the Dodgers will likely have two options: Send Kim or Freeland back to the minors to continue getting regular at-bats, or cut veteran utilityman Santiago Espinal (who is 5-for-23 in limited playing time this year) and move one of the other two into more of a reserve role.
The Dodgers might be reluctant to the latter strategy. It wouldn’t preserve as much organizational depth. It would force one of the young hitters to effectively ride the bench. And typically, the roster works better when the 13th and final position player spot is filled by a veteran presence who can better handle (and not be harmed long term by) the exceedingly inconsistent playing time that comes with the job.
Thus, barring any other injuries between now and then, the team might face another Kim/Freeland decision before long.
The looming rotation question is equally debatable.
When Snell returns, the Dodgers will have their big four starting arms all together again, including Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2-2, 2.87 ERA), Tyler Glasnow (3-0, 2.56 ERA) and Shohei Ohtani (2-1, 0.60 ERA).
However, it means one of the other three members of the current six-man group will have to be squeezed out.
Justin Wrobleski was originally the likeliest candidate for that, only joining the rotation a couple weeks into the season as a placeholder in Snell’s absence. But then, he went out and won all four of his starts since with a 0.69 ERA. That dominance might not be sustainable, especially for a pitch-to-contact lefty who has only 13 strikeouts in his last 26 innings. Still, it should warrant a longer look in a starting role.
Thus, the next few weeks could be crucial for Emmet Sheehan (2-0, 4.78 ERA) and Roki Sasaki (1-2, 6.35 ERA). Both began the season miserably. But both have made strides lately, with Sheehan rediscovering his typical fastball velocity and Sasaki altering his splitter to better find the strike zone.
Either of them could be optioned to the minors upon Snell’s return. Or, if they pitch well enough and Wrobleski suddenly stumbles, they could both keep their jobs while Wrobleski returns to the bullpen.
For now, it all remains on the table, providing some intriguing subplots as the Dodgers proceed into May.
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CLEVELAND, OH - APRIL 21: George Valera #7 of the Cleveland Guardians looks on during the game against the Houston Astros at Progressive Field on Tuesday, April 21, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Grace Hoppel/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The team has announced that George Valera has been sent back to Columbus. What will they do to fill out their roster?
George Valera had a brief and inglorious time in Cleveland this April. In 38 plate appearances, he put up a 46 wRC+ and struck out in back-to-back games against the Rays in spots where the team desperately needed a hit or a walk. His 40% chase rate was the big issue in his return, as well as looking pretty bad in the field (-1 OAA in LF and -1 OAA in right field). I think it’s a wise move to let Valera settle down in Columbus. Honestly, they should probably revisit swapping Valera and Kyle Manzardo in a couple weeks and let Valera be a DH vs. RHP if Manzardo can’t find a way to right the ship. Valera is still hitting the ball hard, not whiffing an exceptional amount and making good in-zone contact. He just couldn’t find the barrel or stop chasing, both skills he HAS shown in the past and may be able to find again.
In Valera’s absence, the team could promote any one of four main options:
CJ Kayfus, LHH – After putting up an 83 wRC+ in Cleveland, Kayfus was demoted earlier this month and has put up a 115 wRC+ in Columbus. He has split half his time in the field there between first base and the two corner outfield positions. I don’t think Kayfus’s numbers would warrant a call-up, and I suspect that, due to Angel Martinez and Daniel Schneemann’s recent success, the team will be looking for a player who isn’t still developing (i.e. won’t have growth hampered by part-time reps).
Nolan Jones, RHH – Jones has a 140 wRC+ with a 26/14 K/BB% in Columbus and fits the bill of a veteran whose development is past the point of where part-time reps will hurt him. He’s still struggling with zone-contact (only at 79%), so, personally, I wouldn’t make him my first call. He would, however, replace the left-handed bat the team has removed in Valera and is capable of playing centerfield (though has spent most of his time in right field in Columbus). I think the team might prefer someone with the flexibility to play any outfield spot in this place on the roster.
Stuart Fairchild, RHH – Fairchild has a 161 wRC+ with an 18.8/13.5 K/BB in Columbus. He has split his time pretty evenly between all three outfield spots there and is 4 for 4 in stolen base attempts. He is whiffing more than I’d like (12.6%), but his zone contact rate is right at average (85%). Fairchild may have a clause in his contract where he will be released by 5/1 if he is not on a major league roster. This has been rumored, but not confirmed anywhere that I can find. The timing of the Valera move would seem to indicate that Fairchild is likely to get the call, and, again, he would be a veteran fit for a part-time role. Notably, either Jones or Fairchild would require a roster move, and I suspect it would be a Codi Heuer DFA.
Kahlil Watson, LHH – Watson has a 140 wRC+ with a 28/20 K/BB in Columbus, while playing excellent defense in centerfield. His average exit velocity is an eye-popping 93 mph and he has a hard-hit rate of 50%. I am still concerned about his 78% zone contact rate and a 12.6 whiff rate isn’t ideal, but he has dramatically cut his chase rate from 34% to 20%. If Watson continues this pace, he will eventually get a shot this season to play center in Cleveland, but I think we are likely to be a 4-6 weeks away from that point.
In conclusion, I think it’s likely that tomorrow’s roster move will be adding Stuart Fairchild to the active roster and the 40-man and DFA’ing Codi Heuer, bringing the 40-man to 20 pitchers and 20 hitters. The active roster becomes, then:
C – Bo, Hedges, Fry 1B – Manzardo, Hoskins 2B – Bazzana 3B – Jose SS – Rocchio LF – Martinez CF – Kwan RF – DeLauter Utility – Schneemann OF – Fairchild
That’s 6 lefties, 3 switch-hitters, and 4 right-handed hitters, which is a pretty solid mix of handedness. It also gives the Guardians some much needed speed off the bench, as Fairchild has 86th percentile sprint speed in comparison with Valera’s 25th percentile. Going from Brito to Bazzana and Valera to Fairchild drastically changes this team’s available speed… and likely dramatically improves them defensively. Time will tell how the hitting changes shape up, but I like the move for Valera’s development and for the current roster’s ability to succeed.
The Mets claimed infielder Andy Ibanez off waivers from the A's.
The struggling Mets claimed infielder Andy Ibanez off waivers from the Athletics.
Ibanez is on his third team this year, hitting 2-for-18 with a .167 OBP in 11 games.
The reeling Mets have lost 16 of their last 19 games, with a lineup struggling to hit.
The reeling Mets are looking for help anywhere they can find it.
The latest flier taken is on infielder Andy Ibanez, whom the Mets claimed off of waivers from the Athletics, The Post’s Joel Sherman confirmed. Ibanez is 2-for-18 this season with a .167 on-base percentage in 11 games.
The Mets will be the third team of the calendar year for Ibanez, who signed a one-year, $1.2 million contract with the Dodgers on Jan. 13. Three weeks later, he was designated for assignment and claimed by the Athletics.
The Mets claimed infielder Andy Ibanez off waivers from the A’s. Getty Images
Ibanez only had more than 300 at-bats once during his first five MLB seasons (two with the Rangers and three with the Tigers). He has a career OPS of .688. He is at his best against left-handed pitching with a .763 OPS in 564 career plate appearances.
Most of Ibanez’s experience is at second base and third base, with a smattering of appearances at first base, shortstop and the corner outfield positions.
Thursday’s lineup against the Nationals included six hitters with a sub-.600 OPS at one point in the game. No wonder the Mets have lost 16 of their last 19 games.
The Royals conclude their trip to Sacramento this afternoon in the rubber game of their series against the A’s. After taking the first game in extras on Tuesday, the Royals fell yesterday. Now, Noah Cameron takes the mound with a chance for Kansas City to take it’s second straight series.
Vinnie remains out of the lineup, which is righty-heavy with the lefty Jeffrey Springs on the mound for the A’s. Lane Thomas is batting third, there are three catchers in the lineup, and Cags is also on the bench. Cool cool cool.
Man, those jerseys are sick. These are, to me, the best uniforms in baseball. I wish I could root for the A’s. Unfortunately, they left Kansas City about 30 years before I arrived.
After today’s game, the Royals head to Seattle for three to conclude their road trip. It would be really nice to capture this one.
With today being an off day for the Cubs, I thought it would be a good time to let you know that my fourth book about the Cubs will be coming out soon.
“The Incredible Chicago Cubs Trivia Book” is 300 trivia questions centered around our favorite team. I’ve separated this book into chapters about batters, pitchers, managers, Wrigley Field, broadcasters and much more. There are questions of every difficulty level in every chapter.
Here are some sample questions, from that Amazon link. I’ve left the answers out, see if you can answer these before you click on the link.
Who played the most games in Cubs history?
Which pitchers threw two no-hitters as members of the Cubs?
Can you name the manager that has the most wins in franchise history with a losing record?
Which player has the most postseason hits and strikeouts in Cubs history?
There are nuggets of Cubs history throughout the book. Some are things you surely know. Others, maybe not — otherwise, why would they be trivia?
The official release date of “The Incredible Chicago Cubs Trivia Book” is June 9, but you can pre-order now at that link.
This is in the acknowledgments to the book, but I wanted to say right here that I could not have completed this book without the help of BCB’s own JohnW53, whose knowledge of Cubs history is unparalelled. Thanks, John, for everything. My friend Mike Bojanowski, whose work you have occasionally seen here, was also a great help to me.
Hope you’ll pick up a copy. Enjoy! (And if you can make it to Wrigley, bring it and I’ll sign your copy.)
April is just about over, which means it’s time for our first GM approval poll of the 2026 regular season. We’ve learned several things through the first month of games. The American League could be an absolute dogpile with just the Yankees and Rays better than one game over .500, while across the league managers’ seats are getting hotter earlier than ever. Boston’s Alex Cora and Philadelphia’s Rob Thomson learned this lesson the hard way and free-falling Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza seems likely soon to follow. Before the season started, we polled our readers on their confidence level in Brian Cashman and the team he assembled heading into the new campaign, voters overwhelmingly voicing their disapproval of the Yankees GM. Now that we are a month into the season, we are curious if any of those opinions have changed.
The Yankees started their season with a three-game sweep of the Giants at Oracle Park, followed by series wins against the Mariners and Marlins. But then the offense went silent, leading to a 2-9 stretch against the A’s, Rays, and Angels. That span included a five-game losing streak, getting one-hit by the Rays, and going 17 consecutive innings without scoring. This inability to dent home plate was primarily attributed to being dragged down by the worst bottom of the order in MLB.
It's still very early in the season, but the Yankees entered today's game with the worst 6-7-8-9 hitters in baseball.
Those spots had a combined 22 wRC+ before today's game. They are currently 0-for-6 with 3 Ks today.
Despite splitting that four-game split with the Halos, they built positive momentum as the offense started to click — this time it was the pitching’s fault, giving up 32 runs including an eye-watering 13 home runs in those four games. They rode that wave to a 10-2 finish to the month to reclaim their lead atop the division. That span included back-to-back sweeps of the Royals and Red Sox, an eight-game winning streak, four straight series victories, and a 26-inning scoreless streak by their pitching staff.
The dominant narrative of the early going has been the Yankees’ stellar starting pitching. Cam Schlittler and Max Fried are one and two in fWAR among all qualified pitchers. The highest ERA of their four regular starters belongs to Ryan Weathers at 3.21, and he has acquitted himself well since joining from Miami over the winter. Both he and Will Warren have a double-digit strikeout start to their names, the latter looking like he has taken the next step in his development after a solid rookie campaign. Even with the since-demoted Luis Gil’s struggles, the rotation is far and away the best in baseball, with the most innings per start (5.8), lowest ERA (2.70) and FIP (3.21), and most fWAR (4.6) of any starting staff in the land.
This is the 3rd time in franchise history the Yankees have 11+ wins and 40 or fewer runs allowed in their first 16 Road games of a season.
Fried and Schlittler aren’t the only ones on the team performing among the best in their discipline. Aaron Judge and Ben Rice place third and seventh, respectively, in position player fWAR, meaning the Yankees have the two best pitchers and two of the seven best hitters in all of baseball, which is certainly a good starting point for any roster. Judge and Rice became the first pair of Yankees teammates in franchise history with at least 10 home runs and at least 20 walks before the end of April, the pair placing second and third in wRC+ among qualified hitters in the league.
It’s a good thing that pair is more than pulling their weight when you consider the output of the rest of the offense. The Yankees do not have another lineup regular with a wRC+ above Cody Bellinger’s 108 mark. Amed Rosario has been a remarkable catalyst when he bats against lefties, but his defensive limitations prevent him from being an everyday starter. As we alluded to earlier, the bottom of the order was a black hole through the first three weeks, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Austin Wells, Ryan McMahon, and José Caballero combining to give the Yankees an automatic out in almost half their lineup. Fortunately that has turned around some in the final half of April. Every member of that quartet has posted a wRC+ of at least 119 since the start of the Royals series, and it is no surprise that this coincided with the Yankees’ best stretch of results.
That leaves the bullpen as the unit that struggled the most for the entire month. The group sits middle of the pack league-wide in ERA (3.86), FIP (3.97), and fWAR (0.7), though it’s easy to envision a scenario where those metrics are worse had the starting rotation not accounted for so many innings pitched. They optioned (and recalled) Jake Bird to the minors for the second time in his short Yankees tenure, you can reliably pencil Camilo Doval in to give up a home run in every outing, Fernando Cruz is walking almost a batter per inning, there’s a fear of pitching the suddenly-important Brent Headrick into the ground with 17 appearances in 31 games, and even David Bednar is a human vasopressor when he closes games.
Just when it looked like the Yankees would go injury-free in April, the bug started to bite in the final week. Giancarlo Stanton landed on the IL with a calf strain and his replacement, Jasson Domínguez, had to exit the series finale against the Rangers; he is undergoing imaging after getting hit on the elbow by a fastball. Conversely, they do have reinforcements on the horizon. Carlos Rodón is about a week and change away (two rehab starts) from rejoining the team after undergoing offseason surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow. Gerrit Cole is probably a month behind his rotation mate as he completes a lengthy rehab from Tommy John surgery. Anthony Volpe could join up with the big-league squad during the upcoming homestand after his offseason surgery to repair a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder. The players they will eventually displace from the active roster is a question they will have to answer shortly, but it’s a good problem to have when you’ve got veterans reinforcing a team that’s already performing well.
That brings us to today’s task. Do you approve of the job Brian Cashman has done through the end of April? On one hand, the Yankees sit atop the division with the best record in the AL posting the second-most runs per game and the lowest staff ERA in the AL. On the other hand, the areas that everyone identified as weak spots over the offseason — third base and the bullpen — continue to drag the team down. The polarizing GM certainly elicits stronger feelings than can be captured in a one-word response — you may feel a question such as the one being posed requires more nuance, greater elaboration, or a wider selection of options than just a “yes” or a “no,” however for the sake of this exercise, a binary question works best.
Note: This is the same poll that is currently appearing on the Feed, so if you’ve voted there, that should already be counted.
Alex Cora was fired and shipped out unceremoniously in the dark of a Baltimore night. He told reporters he was happy. He was heading back to his home in Puerto Rico, ready to spend a summer with his family.
But he also sat down and wrote a love letter to the people and the ballpark of the same organization that had just given him the boot.
Days after being dismissed, Cora sent a mass email to the Red Sox organization thanking the staff, honoring the city and fans and closing with a reminder to everyone to cherish Fenway Park.
“One last thing, keep showing up every day and don’t take the Fenway experience for granted, you working place is the best place in the world," Cora wrote in the letter, obtained by MassLive.com.
Cora, who played in Boston before managing there, drew a stark contrast to the men who sent him packing.
When chief baseball officer Craig Breslow gathered the players the morning after, the meeting lasted seven minutes. He spoke for about two of them, according to reports. No questions were allowed. Owner John Henry stood against a wall and said nothing to the group.
There was no explanation or understanding that the players felt. Reliever Garrett Whitlock told reporters they made it clear their players were paid to just play baseball.
Even at his press conference the day after the firing, Breslow offered nothing of substance.
“It comes down to the belief that we have in the players and the belief that we have in the group to accomplish what we set out to accomplish,” Breslow said.
There was little feel to the way Breslow, who spent over a decade playing in the big leagues, handed the situation.
Trevor Story called Breslow’s explanation unsatisfactory. He said the direction of the franchise was “up in the air.”
That may be the underlying reason for Cora’s “I’m happy” reaction. The Breslow-constructed roster is a mess with too many outfielders and lack of veteran players; the pitching staff is unsettled with Garret Crochet and his 6.30 ERA now on the injured list with left shoulder inflammation.
Cora turned down a chance to jump right back in as the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. He said he needed time to spend with his family and adjust to life after the Red Sox.
“Being part of this organization has meant a great deal to me,” Cora wrote. “As a player and as a manager. Like I always tell free agents, I’m glad my kids grew up here. It’s unique, special and magical place.”
Apr 25, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Athletics starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs (59) throws during the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
This afternoon, the Athletics will take on the Kansas City Royals in the rubber match of their three-game series. After letting the series-opener slip through their fingers in an extra-inning defeat, the A’s rebounded last night, defeating the Royals 5-2 to force this series-deciding finale. Luis Severino shone on the mound, pitching seven innings of one-run ball and right fielder Lawrence Butler’s three-run home run to the right field berm was the key offensive blow.
With a winning April already secured, a victory today would give the team a third-straight series win and a strong finish to its first full month of the season.
Left-hander Jeffrey Springs gets the start for the A’s today. The 33-year-old enters his seventh start with a 3.2 record and a 3.79 ERA. In his last start at the Texas Rangers, Springs pitched well until his sixth and final inning, when he gave up Rangers’ third baseman Josh Jung’s go-ahead, game-winning home run. In his previous start, at home against the Chicago White Sox, Springs gave up seven runs in five innings. Having suffered back-to-back losses, the veteran lefty aims to right the ship today and return to the form he displayed in his first few outings of 2026.
Springs will be opposed by Royals’ left-hander Noah Cameron. The 26-year-old impressed in his rookie season last year, going 9-7 with a 2.99 ERA in 24 starts. Cameron is 2-1 with a 5.13 ERA through his first five starts of his sophomore campaign. He is coming off a strong outing against the Los Angeles Angels, in which he allowed three runs over 6 1/3 innings. The A’s faced Cameron twice last season, faring better against him at home than in Kansas City.
Designated hitter Brent Rooker, who has not recorded a hit since coming off the injured list, is out of today’s lineup as is left fielder Tyler Soderstrom, who is still recovering from whiplash sustained when attempting to make a diving catch in Friday’s contest. The team’s hottest-hitter, left fielder Carlos Cortes remains in the lineup, even with a left-hander pitching for the Royals. Both catchers are starting, with Shea Langeliers serving as the designated hitter to give his legs a rest following two-straight days behind the plate. Last but not least, hopefully yesterday’s home run will get Butler going offensively as the team needs more production out of the inconsistent outfielder.
Springs will face this batting order for the Royals today:
The Royals are trotting out several regulars, including the duo atop the lineup in Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. However lefty sluggers Jac Caglianone andVinnie Pasquantino are on the bench, with Pasquantino sidelined due to back tightness suffered Tuesday night.
It is time to win another series. Let’s go Athletics!
