Category: Baseball

Casey Schmitt's two-homer night a reminder why Giants want him in lineup daily originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

WEST SACRAMENTO – There’s a very real possibility that at some point this season, Casey Schmitt could be used as the Giants’ everyday left fielder, an idea that has moved closer to reality now that Heliot Ramos is on the injured list.

Manager Tony Vitello has talked sporadically about that very idea in recent weeks, with his main focus being on making sure Schmitt has a spot in San Francisco’s lineup, no matter where it is.

That’s how good Schmitt has been swinging the bat lately.

The 27-year-old was in the DH spot for Saturday’s game against the Athletics and flexed his muscle with four hits that included a pair of home runs and three RBI, leading the Giants to a 6-4 win at Sutter Health Park.

Casey Schmitt just launched this ball into orbit 🚀 pic.twitter.com/hrhYLIGSJI

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) May 17, 2026

CASEY SCHMITT HOMERS AGAIN 😤 pic.twitter.com/Cf2KQTFXZU

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) May 17, 2026

“He’s been one of our best producers for the whole year,” Vitello said. “The one thing with Ramos being out, some of those other guys are going to get what you’re asking for. I just think he keeps things really simple. He’s got a good intellect to him, but he doesn’t seem to spin his wheels in areas that there’s no point doing it.“

Schmitt’s wheels haven’t been spinning in place. When he makes contact, the ball sails as he scurries around the bases.

Saturday marked Schmitt’s second multi-home run game in MLB, leaving the utility man brimming afterward.

“I just keep the confidence in myself,” Schmitt said. “I’m not dwelling on past days or past mistakes. Every day is a new day for me. I try to keep it as simple as that.”

That approach has been working fine for Schmitt and the Giants.

Have a bad day? Turn the page and move on. Have a great day? Turn the page and move on.

“A couple days ago I struck out four times against the Dodgers, but just going in there and keeping it simple,” Schmitt explained.

Sounds easy enough, but Schmitt has bounced around the field like a ping-pong ball in the NBA lottery.

Saturday’s game was his 21st at DH. Schmitt has also spent time at first base (11), second base (2) and third base (3). He even got a brief taste of left field Friday, entering the game as a defensive replacement when Ramos got hurt.

“I’ve been shagging a lot and taking reads and stuff,” Schmitt said. “Got [into the game] yesterday. No balls.”

Whatever happens defensively, the Giants want Schmitt to remain in a comfortable spot at the plate.

“I wasn’t really trying to hit a homer. I was just trying to hit a liner, and I was able to get two in the air,” he said. “We’re going to be in a good spot. Just going out there trying to win every single game.”

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Well, well, well, if it wasn’t for those meddling Chicago Cubs and our bullpen explosion, we would have come away with a victory last night. Not even a Scooby Doo reference can dull the late innings of yesterday’s ballgame; however, the Chicago White Sox have a new game in front of them this evening, with the chance to tie the series.

Our ace, Davis Martin (5-1, 1.62 ERA, 3.89 xERA), takes the mound, and he has been outstanding. Taking a look at his Baseball Savant page he’s been the total package in overall run value, and almost exclusively throws strikes:

Even more importantly, he’s been a steady veteran presence with the power to right the ship whenever it has veered off-course. During last night’s broadcast, Mike Vasil was glowing about Martin and showed deep admiration for Davis’ routine and purpose behind every action he takes on and off the bump. If I can add one recommendation to the routine, if not already implemented: Let’s not give the Cubs anything tonight.

Sharing the mound, Jameson Taillon (2-2, 3.94 ERA, 4.21 xERA) notches the start for the Bad Guys. Like Martin, Taillon has also only given up three earned runs in his last two starts. Unlike Martin, Taillon has a hard time missing barrels:

Tonight is the perfect opportunity for the Sox power hitters, especially, to feast off Taillon. If they can hold up against the breaking ball, there’s a good chance the bottom half of the scoreboard will be full of runs.

Looking to the Sox lineup, Will Venable has really solidified his starting nine against right-handed pitchers:

Munetaka Murakami (15 homers) looks to break his slump and add to his home run total, while Miguel Vargas (10) and Colson Montgomery (12) look to homer in back-to-back games.

The North Siders will put out their starting nine like so:

Miguel Amaya starts at catcher, leaving Carson Kelly and last night’s four RBIs on the bench.

Game two of this three-game set between the Good Guys and Bad Guys starts at 6:10 p.m. CT on CHSN and ESPN 1000. Let’s even up the series!

TODAY’S GAME: The Houston Astros (18-28) will continue their seven-game homestand today as they look to win the second of a three game series against the rival Texas Rangers (21-23).

Astros starter RHP Kai-Wei Teng (1-3, 3.12 ERA), who tossed his fifth straight quality start his last time out, will oppose RHP Jacob deGrom(3-2, 2.62 ERA) and the Rangers in the second game of the series .

ABOUT TENG: RHP Kai-Wei Teng is still making the transition to the rotation. He threw three clean innings last time out before losing steam in the fourth inning. According to Joe Espada, they are hoping he can get to 75 pitches in tonight’s game.

ABOUT DEGROM: Jacob deGrom has an 99-67 career record with a 2.57 ERA in 1584.1. career innings. He holds a 1-2 record against the Astros with a 3.70 ERA in 24.1 innings.

VS. TEXAS: The Astros and Rangers are playing their first series of 2026. Today’s game marks the second game of the annual Silver Boot Series with the Silver Boot going to the team with the most victories. Tonight’s contest will be the 301th game between these two teams as the series is deadlocked at a perfect 150-150. The Astros retained the Silver Boot last season by winning seven games in 13 tries.

HOT SPAGHETTI: Last night’s Astros starter RHP Spencer Arrighetti made his season debut on April 15 and has since gone 5-1 with a 1.50 ERA (6ER/36IP) and a .176 opponent average in six starts…among all AL pitchers with at least 35.0 innings, Arrighetti ranks second in ERA (1.88) and third in opponent average (.176), and despite making his first three starts at the Triple A level, Arrighetti ranks tied for third in the AL in wins (5).

ARMED FORCES DAY: Today in honor of Armed Forces Appreciation Weekend, a ceremonial first pitch, made possible by Houston Area Chevy Dealers, will be thrown out by former U.S. Navy Petty Officer Mark Tyson…Tyson completed two Western Pacific deployments to the Persian Gulf in 2000 and 2002, and supported major operations including Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Southern Watch. For his dedicated service and sacrifice, he was award­ed numerous military honors.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Saturday, May 16, 6:10 p.m. CT

Location: Daikin Park, Houston, TX

TV: Space City Home Network

Streaming: SCHN+

Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)

Astros

2B Jose Altuve

2B Isaac Paredes

DH Yordan Alvarez

1B Christian Walker

SS Braden Shewmake

CF Brice Matthews

RF Zach Cole

LF Zach Dezenzo

C Christian Vazquez

Rangers

DH Joc Pederson

RF Brandon Nimmo

3B Josh Jung

CF Evan Carter

SS Ezequiel Duran

LF Alejandro Osuna

1B Jake Burger

C Danny Jansen

2B Justin Foscue

Reinforcements are on the way for an Astros roster ravaged by injuries through the first 46 games of the season.

Jeremy Peña, Jake Meyers, and Nate Pearson could rejoin the Astros next week while Josh Hader and Hunter Brown continue to progress in their rehabs, Astros manager Joe Espada said before Saturday’s game against the Texas Rangers.

Peña and Meyers were in the starting lineup for Double-A Corpus Christi against Amarillo on Saturday, and Pearson is scheduled to pitch for Triple-A Sugar Land on Sunday in Tacoma.

If all goes well, Espada said all three could be available at some point during the Astros three-game series in Minneapolis, which starts on Monday night. 

Peña, on the IL since April 12 with a grade one hamstring strain, went 0 for 5 on Friday night in the second game of his rehab assignment. He did not play on Wednesday or Thursday after leaving Tuesday’s game following a collision at second base.

Meyers, who landed on the IL with a right oblique strain on April 9, has gone hitless in his first two rehab games.

Pearson has appeared in six minor league games in his recovery from elbow surgery. His velocity got up to 101.3 MPH on Tuesday.

While their returns are not imminent, Josh Hader and Hunter Brown continue to progress in their rehabs.

Hader won’t be ready to come off the IL when he’s eligible on May 24, but Espada said he’ll only need five more rehab outings as he continues what is essentially his spring training ramp-up.

The Astros lefty struck out two in a scoreless inning for Corpus Christi on Friday. Hader was off for two days between his last two rehab appearances, and the final step will be pitching on back-to-back days. 

Brown, who isn’t eligible to return until June 1, will throw a live BP on Tuesday. He will start a rehab assignment shortly after, if all goes well. 

The Astros entered Saturday’s game with 14 players on the injured list.  

Roki Sasaki isn’t losing his job in the Dodgers’ rotation anytime soon.

But whether he can find his old self remains another, much more consequential question.

It was only a couple weeks ago that Sasaki seemed to be in survival mode — both on the mound and the Dodgers’ roster.

Early this year, he couldn’t command his pitches. He wasn’t getting deep into starts. And though he had managed to avoid many disasters, his place on the club seemed tenuous at best.

In recent weeks, however, circumstances have changed.

The Dodgers lost Tyler Glasnow (back spasms) and Blake Snell (loose bodies in his elbow) to the injured list. They went from having a looming rotation crunch (in which either Sasaki or Emmet Sheehan seemed likely to be demoted) to a sudden lack of big-league rotation depth.

Against that backdrop, Sasaki has also shown some encouraging signs. In each of his last three outings, he has pitched into the sixth inning. And while his ERA remains close to 6.00, he has been able to better attack the strike zone and cut down on his walks.

Because of that, manager Dave Roberts has praised the progress he believes the supposed phenom is making. Sasaki said his last couple games are as good as he has felt all season.

Alas, the 24-year-old right-hander is still nowhere near where he wants to be.

“Not at all,” he acknowledged in Japanese after a five-plus-inning, three-run start against the Giants last week. “I think I’m pretty far.”

Such is the duality facing Sasaki ahead of his next outing on Sunday against the Angels and entering what figures to be a critical stretch of the season for himself and the team.

He has proved he can at least survive at the MLB level. He remains better than any currently available rotation alternative the Dodgers could turn to.

But becoming the Cy Young-caliber talent that he was billed as when he first arrived from Japan? That remains a long-term, and still uncertain, work in progress.

“To me, it feels as if I’ve already taken a lot of time,” Sasaki said last week. “The situation has been painful … All I can do is aim for that and build toward it.”

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The absence of Glasnow (who will be out for at least a couple more weeks) and Snell (who will likely be sidelined for the next 2-3 months) means greater responsibility is set to fall to him; to pitch deeper into games, to do better at preventing runs, and to be more than someone simply trying to cling to a roster spot.

“Whether it comes right away or gradually is something I don’t even know,” Sasaki said. “I imagine what I want to be and work my way backward from that. If I stop that process, then it’s over. As long as I have a chance, I have to continue to progress.”

The good news is that ingredients for such success have begun to show themselves. Sasaki has made significant strides with his fastball command over the last month, going from nearly seven walks per nine innings in his first three outings to just six total free passes in his last 20 ⅔ frames. The addition of a new, harder splitter to complement his trademark, but difficult-to-control, forkball has also been seen by club officials as a positive.

“Roki’s certainly doing his part,” Roberts said last week.

Sasaki’s next challenge will be limiting hard contact (he has the fourth-highest home run rate among any pitcher with at least 30 innings this year) and maintaining his stuff deeper into starts (in two of his last three outings, he pushed into the sixth inning but was removed before recording another out).

If he does that, it could help alleviate the Dodgers’ sudden injury problems and lessen the strain it figures to place on their bullpen.

If he can’t, then his admittedly “painful” growth process will continue, at precisely the time the Dodgers need more out of him.

First Pitch: 6:10 pm CDT
TV: Twins.TV
Radio: TIBN / WCCO 830 / The Wolf 102.9 FM / Audacy

The Twins aren’t actually THAT far below .500, but when a Friday night home game feels like a road trip, “core” players are being optioned to Triple-A, and the Chicago White Sox are above you in the standings, it’s hard not to feel a little pessimistic. Minnesota’s third-place position is emblematic of the American League Central’s reputation, as well as the general stature of a 2026 American League which features four teams with winning records.

Still, the Twins are coming off consecutive series wins, and still have a chance to win their Rivalry Weekend matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers. On top of that, they’ll be able to see if Connor Prielipp can sustain his early-career success; he enters his fifth major-league start having allowed only 12 hits in 19 innings, including a one-hit performance against the Seattle Mariners and a three-hit outing against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Brew Crew will send out righty Logan Henderson, in his second big-league season after a cup of coffee with the Brewers in 2025. Henderson rocks a four-seamer on the slow side, as well as a changeup with decent early returns and a cutter/slider combo to round things out.

Quick day-to-day injury update:

GO TWINS GO!

San Diego Padres (26-18) at Seattle Mariners (22-24), May 16, 2026, 4:15 p.m. PST

Watch: FOX/MLB.TV Free Game of the Day

Location: T-Mobile Park – Seattle, Wash.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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Saturday starters. pic.twitter.com/UZV8CtR8oy

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 16, 2026

Geared up for Game 2️⃣ #TridentsUp

📺 FOX
📻 @SeattleSportspic.twitter.com/mtdRMJwkiT

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) May 16, 2026

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Chad Tracy hasn’t exactly shaken things up since taking charge of the Red Sox. But, my god, this man does love him some Mickey Gasper.

Gasper and his ‘stache will once again bat second tonight, and this time he’ll do so as the catcher instead of the DH. That’s not the craziest call in the world when you consider that he’s had plenty of experience with tonight’s starter, Payton Tolle.

If you were wondering whether Marcelo Mayer would claim the shortstop spot in Trevor Story’s absence, keep wondering. He’s back at second tonight with Andruw Monasterio slotting in at short. And check it out: a Masataka Yoshida sighting. They’ll take on Bryce Harper Dallas Howard Elder, who, oh yeah, leads baseball in ERA this year. Let’s see if the Red Sox can outscore the New England Revolution.

First Pitch: 7:15 PM

TV: NESN

Texas Rangers @ Houston Astros

Saturday, May 16, 2026, 6:10 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

Daikin Park

RHP Jacob deGrom vs. RHP Kai-Wei Teng

Go Rangers!

Mets lineup

Carson Benge – RF
Bo Bichette – SS
Juan Soto – LF
Mark Vientos – 1B
Marcus Semien – 2B
A.J. Ewing – CF
Austin Slater – DH
Brett Baty – 3B
Luis Torrens – C

SP: Huascar Brazobán – RHP

Yankees lineup

Ben Rice – DH
Aaron Judge – RF
Cody Bellinger – LF
Paul Goldschmidt – 1B
Jazz Chisholm – 2B
Amed Rosario – 3B
Trent Grisham – CF
Anthony Volpe – SS
Austin Wells – C

SP: Carlos Rodón – LHP

Broadcast info

First pitch: 7:15 PM EDT
TV: FOX
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2

The Seattle Mariners saw their four-year run of Vedder Cup dominance end last night, as the San Diego Padres blanked them 2-0 in a disappointing display that resembled many Friar victories this season: get a lead, then hand things to the bullpen and crush the final squirms of resistance.

Today is a new opportunity, however, as Seattle can still salvage this weekend’s series and attempt to end Sunday back at .500. To do so, they’ll be hoping to get to San Diego’s starter. Randy Vásquez stifled Seattle’s offense last night, but veteran Walker Buehler has not had quite as much success this year. He’ll mirror Logan Gilbert, fresh off Walter’s best outing of 2026.

Cal Raleigh remains sidelined, but Kate took some time with the Big Dumper to discuss the difficulties of accepting “unavailability” when his career and success has been defined both internally and externally in large part by uncommonly impressive durability.

Lineups:

While originally scheduled to play, both Brendan Donovan and Mitch Garver have been scratched from the lineup. The updated lineup has moved J.P. Crawford up to the leadoff spot, with Leo Rivas taking over at third base and Jhonny Pereda taking his second straight day behind the dish.

Updated lineup:

SS Crawford
CF Rodríguez
1B Naylor
LF Arozarena
RF Raley
2B Young
DH Canzone
C Pereda
3B Rivas

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) May 16, 2026

Game Information:

Game time: 4:15 PT

TV: FOX – Baseball Night in America – NOT ON NORMAL MARINERS.TV, you need cable or to go to a bar or somewhere with an antenna.

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr.

The Milwaukee Brewers will go for their fifth-straight series win this evening (not counting the 1-1 series split with St. Louis), as they’ll take on the Minnesota Twins following a come-from-behind victory last night. The Twins have lost six of their last eight series going back to mid-April.

Young pitching will continue to be the centerpoint in game two, as Logan Henderson will make his fourth start of the season. Henderson has been consistent over his first four starts on the season, allowing at least two runs in each appearance, while also keeping the walks to a minimum, with at least one walk in two of those three outings.

On the flip side for the Twins, they’ll send out their 25-year-old rookie left-hander Connor Prielipp, who has been off to a great start in 2026. Through four games with the Twins, he has posted a 3.32 ERA through 19 innings pitched with 21 strikeouts. His last was a frustrating one as the Cleveland Guardians scored four runs on him.

Even though pitching hasn’t been much of a weak link for the Crew this season, they’re beginning to get healthier as the season moves onward. Though there hasn’t been an official announcement yet, Robert Gasser has a locker in the Twin Cities today and is back with the team for the first time this season. Gasser had a couple of setbacks last year after spending a couple of stints on the 60-day injured list.

Robert Gasser is in the Brewers clubhouse in Minnesota.

— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) May 16, 2026

After another stellar outing last night, Coleman Crow was optioned back to Triple-A while Peter Strezlecki was selected from there. Strezlecki rejoined the Brewers back in February after spending all of 2025 with the Durham Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. Strezlecki had about as good a rookie season as one could ask for back in 2022 with the Brewers, appearing in 30 games and posting a 2.83 ERA.

Today's transactions pic.twitter.com/pYC1dYps06

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 16, 2026

Taking a look at the lineups tonight, Christian Yelich is out of the lineup for the fourth straight game. With the southpaw on the mound, Brice Turang and Sal Frelick are the lone lefties in the batting order tonight.

First pitch is set for 6:10 p.m. on the Brewers Radio Network and Brewers.TV.

Game two in Minneapolis

📺: https://t.co/eycfmE2vgm
📻: WTMJ#ThisIsMyCrew x @NicoletLawpic.twitter.com/Wrq8zHgDtG

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 16, 2026

This is the way we are lining up for Star Wars night!

📺 https://t.co/7owDbqKlDapic.twitter.com/7ud2onqZng

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 16, 2026

Here’s the Reds lineup:

Game two of three in Cleveland

Powered by @PNCBankpic.twitter.com/cfdF4pmdqk

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 16, 2026

Here’s the Guardians’ lineup:

Tonight's lineup.#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/He4TwlsJwv

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) May 16, 2026

Let’s go, Guardians!

Well, I’m not going to say the “Mauricio Dubon leads off against lefties” experiment is over, but whatever the case may be, it’s at least on hiatus for tonight’s game against Payton Tolle and the Red Sox:

Austin Riley is back hitting cleanup, and Michael Harris II has dropped to sixth. These all sort make sense if you think the lineup as responding to semi-recent trends as Riley has hit pretty well over the last two weeks, while Dubon and Harris have been okay at best in that span. The bottom of the lineup is what it is, for another day. The Braves find ways to keep winning anyway.

This will be Riley’s first time hitting cleanup since April 23; with this start, he will once again take over the mantle of “has hit cleanup for the Braves in 2026 most often” which he currently shares with Matt Olson. The Braves have used 32 different batting orders in 45 games so far; this game will make it 33 in 46.

The Red Sox will deploy a lineup pretty similar to the one the Braves experience last night, except that Mickey Gasper is catching, such that Carlos Narvaez is pushed to the bench in favor of Masataka Yoshida starting at DH. When you look at the Statcast game preview above, you can see why the Red Sox have struggled to plate runs, as only Gasper, Wilyer Abreu, and Willson Contreras have any semblance of good batting inputs.

This is also a novel Red Sox lineup, and the second time that Gasper will start behind the plate.

Gasper, Yoshida, and Durbin have not faced Bryce Elder in their respective careers; the other six guys in the Red Sox lineup have, but none have double-digit PAs in the matchup. The collective line is a .162 wOBA and .191 xwOBA in 26 PAs, which really isn’t anything at all.

Nobody in the Braves’ lineup has faced Tolle before, which makes sense given that the youngster hasn’t pitched much in the majors and hasn’t yet faced the Braves. Elder has faced the Red Sox just once before — a game last year where he gave up a three-run double to Trevor Story in the first, and the game ended 3-1 with no runs scoring beyond the first inning.