CHICAGO — Philadelphia ace right-hander Zack Wheeler, out since last August because of a blood clot found near his right shoulder and thoracic outlet surgery, will return to the struggling Phillies rotation on Saturday in Atlanta, manager Rob Thomson said Tuesday.
A three-time All-Star, the 35-year-old Wheeler last pitched on Aug. 15, 2025, at Washington, exiting after five innings.
Wheeler finished his sixth season with the Phillies at 10-5 with a 2.71 ERA through 149 2/3 innings and 24 starts. He's 113-75 with a 3.28 ERA for his career over 11 seasons with Philadelphia and the New York Mets.
Wheeler completed a five-game minor league rehab stint on Sunday when he threw 77 pitches for Double-A Reading. The righty also pitched for Triple-A Lehigh Valley during the assignment.
Thomson didn't think Wheeler, who rejoined the Phillies in Chicago, would face significant restrictions against the Braves.
“I see him as kind of a six (inning), 90 (pitch) guy,” Thomson said before the Phillies faced the Cubs. “I think he's basically at the end of spring training.”
Wheeler's return could provide a much-needed boost to the Phillies, who entered Tuesday on a six-game slide that dropped them to 8-14.
“I think having Zack Wheeler on your 26-man roster makes you a better roster no matter what,” Thomson said. “So when he's healthy and pitching, well he's one of, if not the best pitcher in the National League.”
Fresh off a victory last night in Seattle, the first place A’s take on the Seattle Mariners tonight at T-Mobile Park. The A’s have not sat atop the American League West Division since June 19, 2021. It’s early and hardly an opportunity for a parade since they are just one game over .500, but it is worth noting.
Tonight, Jacob Lopez takes the mound for the A’s. The 28-year-old lefty is 1-1 in four starts this season with a 6.38 ERA. He’ll go up against Luis Castillo for the Mariners. Castillo is 0-1 after four starts, with a 5.40 ERA in eighteen innings.
Castillo will go up against this lineup for the visiting Athletics:
Apr 20, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Athletics right fielder Lawrence Butler (4) steals a base before Seattle Mariners second baseman Cole Young (2) can receive a throw during the fifth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
Luis Castillo gets the ball for the M’s, still in search of his first win of 2026 in his fifth start. With a 5.40 ERA this season, the results haven’t been on La Piedra’s side to this point, though his 3.30 FIP suggests some bad luck.
Last time out in San Diego, Castillo allowed quite a bit of hard contact for one earned run over 5.1 innings — though that line is a tad deceiving. He gave up four runs in total, all of which came during an ill-fated second inning in which he made an error on a throw to Josh Naylor at first that maybe should’ve been picked, making three of the runs unearned. All in all, no one is accusing the Mariners infield of putting on a defensive clinic lately, but Castillo didn’t exactly look sharp either. He’ll look to bounce back in the friendly confines of T-Mobile Park.
The Athletics will counter with Jacob Lopez (1-1, 6.38 ERA), who is also making his fifth start of the season. For more on the pitching matchup, you can check out the series preview written by Jake Mailhot.
In other news this afternoon, the Mariners designated RHP Casey Legumina for assignment in the aftermath of his losing decision last night. As a corresponding move, RHP Alex Hoppe was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma and will join the Mariners bullpen. His first appearance will be his major league debut. John Trupin wrote about the roster move here.
Lineups
The Mariners are rolling out their righty platoon to face the lefty Lopez. Cal Raleigh will get a DH day while Mitch Garver is behind the dish. With Rob Refsnyder in the lineup batting leadoff, J.P. Crawford slots down to sixth.
Game Information
First Pitch: 6:40 p.m. PDT
TV: Mariners.TV, with Aaron Goldsmith, Ryon Healy and Ryan Rowland-Smith
Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr.
This aerial view taken on January 7, 2026 shows Chase Field in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Daniel SLIM / AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images
Today’s Lineups
WHITE SOX
DIAMONDBACKS
Andrew Benintendi – DH
Ketel Marte – 2B
Munetaka Murakami – 1B
Corbin Carroll – RF
Miguel Vargas – 3B
Geraldo Perdomo – SS
Colson Montgomery – SS
Adrian Del Castillo – C
Everson Pereira – RF
Lourdes Gurriel – LF
Sam Antonacci – LF
Jose Fernandez – DH
Chase Meidroth – 2B
Nolan Arenado – 3B
Tristan Peters – CF
Ildemaro Vargas – 1B
Reese McGuire – C
Alek Thomas – CF
Sean Burke – RHP
Merrill Kelly – RHP
Fun fact: if you discount James McCann’s single inning of work, the Arizona bullpen now has an ERA of 3.81, better than the rotation’s figure of 4.03. Admittedly, I guess you could discount Ryne Nelson’s last start and reduce similarly – by an even larger amount, actually – the rotation ERA, getting it down to 3.40. We probably need to take the good with the bad. But Brandon Pfaadt’s outing certainly saved the bullpen after Nelson’s blow-up. It’s only the third time a D-backs reliever has thrown over six innings. One came in 2001, when Randy Johnson threw seven after Curt Schilling started, when a power outage in San Diego pushed the game to the next day. His 16 K’s is still the MLB record for reliever strikeouts, breaking a mark set in 1913.
However, the “legitimate” record is the 20 outs recorded by Vidal Nuño in 2015. Josh Collmenter got clobbered by the Nationals and left with one out in the second. Nuño took over and allowed two runs through the end of the eight. It was still an 11-1 loss, but again it helped save the bullpen. Vidal threw 105 pitches, eleven more than the Washington starter… Who was none other than Max Scherzer, the starter for Toronto in the game before Sunday’s blow-out. History not repeating itself, but certainly rhyming. In his six year career, Nuño had only a handful of starts where he threw more pitches. But in addition to RJ’s game (109 pitches), Braden Shipley threw more, tossing 108 in relief during a 2017 game in Minnesota.
Some health updates. You’ll note that Corbin Carroll is back, and should have no limitations, Torey Lovullo calling him “good to go.” Gabriel Moreno is eligible to come off the IL today, but it appears that won’t happen before the weekend series in Mexico City. He still needs to take full-blooded swings to confirm everything is good there. Finally, tidying up something from earlier in the week. Jack discovered that the unexpected return of Tommy Henry to the mound last week is because he did indeed only need the internal brace procedure, not full Tommy John, allowing for a quicker rehab. A.J. Puk had something similar, but it is his second operation. He said today he expects to go on a rehab assignment at the end of May.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - APRIL 19: Randy Arozarena #56 of the Seattle Mariners celebrates his two run home run with Julio Rodríguez #44 during the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers at T-Mobile Park on April 19, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Last week, I dropped a request in the FEED for all y’all’s hottest Mariners takes and you definitely served up some HEAT. Here is a handy ranking system:
Blake Beaven = 1 star – a fine yet fairly tepid take Chris Bosio = 2 stars – workmanlike, solid, but not earth-shattering Hisashi Iwakuma = 3 stars – an above replacement level hot take, boundary-pushing but not absurd Matt Brash = 4 stars – a very hot and BRASH take, will upset people, will get the people going Cliff Lee = 5 stars – nuclear, scorched earth-level take
Okay, let’s see what we’ve got here. We’ll start tepid and work our way up.
Poster Donguelard says: “People give Randy Arozarena way too much shit for for how productive he is.
Rating: Blake Beaven
I mean, I obviously agree with this. Randy is a good ballplayer. He definitely turns it up and turns it down as the situation requires. He is not a 100% hustle up the line every time player. He’s conserving his ammo for when he needs it, and as a 42-year-old who still tries to play sports, I respect that. He’s a couple hot streaks away or flashy catches away from being everyone’s favorite player again. Randy gonna Randy.
Poster Chris From Bothell says: “Dan’s devotion to doing lefty-righty matchups is going to directly cost the M’s at least 3 wins by the end of the season. The Padres finale on April 16 was one of those.”
Rating: Chris Bosio
I’m putting this on the tepid side of things, but still very respectable in terms of a take. Costing 3 wins can definitely mean the difference between the postseason or golf season, but I think this take would be much hotter if we were talking about Dan’s decisions costing the team 5-6 wins. Now we’re getting spicy.
MarinersFanInAZ says: “Emerson Hancock will be the second-best starter this year.
Rating: Hisashi Iwakuma
Oooh baby, we’re cookin’ now. This is definitely a hot take, but certainly not impossible from the small sample size we’ve seen so far from the Mariners starters. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that Bryan Woo takes the top honors, and then we’ve got newcomer Hancock in second, so then how far behind are Gilbert, Kirby, Castillo, and even Miller once he’s back? If they’re all relatively close behind Hancock, then hello playoffs. If there’s big drop off, then yikes! This is a good and spicy one, well done.
Poster Nichos9 says: “Bryce Miller is coming for Luis Castillo’s job not for Emerson Hancock’s.”
Rating: Matt Brash
Woooo, boy, this is BRASH as hell. I respect it, but definitely disagree for two reasons. 1. I think Castillo’s demise has been greatly exaggerated. He’s fine and he is a crafty veteran at this point and will figure out how to keep winning games for as long as his arm stays healthy. 2. This take assumes that Bryce Miller is going to come back and really put it all together again. Sadly, I have my doubts. I want it to happen because I love Cowboy Bryce and he’s fun to watch when he is on his game, but I will believe it when I see it. Still, this is steaming hot take because of how sneakily divisive it is. Well played!
Poster YesItsRyan says: “Cole Young proves he is the best Mariners 2nd baseman since the 90’s.”
Rating: CLIFF LEE (sirens, fire alarms, Chernobyl klaxons)
Hoooo YEAH, head for the hills! We’ve got a winner right here. Let’s take a look at the highest single season bWAR totals by Mariners second basemen since 1990
Bret Boone, 2001: 8.8 bWAR
Robinson Canó, 2016: 7.3 bWAR
Harold Reynolds, 1990: 4.8 bWAR
Joey Cora, 1997: 2.6
It goes downhill pretty quickly after that, so let’s stop there. So, I admit, I did not see this coming from Cole Young after what we saw last season. Obviously it’s April, but he’s been one of the compentnt hitters in the lineup for the last month and is currently 4th in bWAR for the Mariners in 2026. That’s pretty significant for a fairly overlooked prospect (not by one Kate Preusser, I am legally obligated to say). So Yung Cole is off to a great start, he is very strong, can slug the ball, and has a pretty high baseball IQ. Can he outdo 2.6 by Joey Cora? Pretty decent chance, I’d say. Could he outdo Harold Reynolds at 4.8? We’re in big stretch territory. Possible but unlikely. How about 7.3 by Canó? I mean, the Mariners are definitely in the playoffs if that happens. That would overcome A LOT of shortcomings by other players, but is extremely unlikely. Can Young outdo Boone at 8.8? I’m gonna say that record will probably he held by Boone until the sun burns out unless Young shows up with suspiciously swollen fore arms out of nowhere and begins doing nonchalant flick of the wrist bat flips on dingers.
So, yes, I certify this take as NUCLEAR. Bombastic. Morally questionable. Scorched earth.
Okay that’ll do it for this week’s reverse mailbag. Thank you to everyone who dropped a take, I’ll include more next time. The spicier, the better. Keep an eye out for the next prompt later this week.
Sean Burke will make his fourth appearance this season, hoping to bounce back from last week’s outing against the Rays. | (Getty Images)
The White Sox snapped their series drought over the weekend, taking two of three from the Athletics for their first series win since early April against the Blue Jays. They now head out to the desert to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game set. In some good news, the South Siders are shockingly not in last place in the AL Central, and officially do NOT have the worst run differential in the MLB — thank you, Kansas City, for both.
On top of that, two of their prospects were named players of the week in their respective leagues (Colby Shelton and Braden Montgomery), and left-handed pitching prospect Noah Schultz bounced back in his second start with five solid innings on Sunday, so not all is bad.
Righthander Sean Burke is making his third start (fourth appearance) of the season, and despite a rocky outing last week against the Rays, he’s been fairly solid overall this month, with a 3.86 ERA in three games (16 1/3 innings). Though he’s sitting at a cumulative 4.43 ERA on the year, his 3.77 FIP highlights that the defense could be impacting his expected performance, which wouldn’t be all that surprising considering the Sox rank 26th in fielding run value this season, according to Statcast. Burke also doesn’t walk an absurd amount of batters, ranking in the 73rd percentile for walk rate (6.9%), so if the team were more solid behind him, he might have better numbers.
Burke will face some tough D-backs hitters with Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll, and Geraldo Perdomo already packing a punch of power at the top of the order. Though he is batting eighth, Ildemaro Vargas has had a hot start to the season, slashing .368/.390/.596 with a .986 OPS with five doubles so far.
For Arizona, righthander Merrill Kelly will take the mound, making his second start of the season after beginning the year on the IL. Kelly gave up two runs on five hits, including a homer, across 5 1/3 innings in his first outing, though shaky command led to four walks against three strikeouts. In 32 starts last season, he posted a 3.52 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP, and he tends to lean towards his cutter and changeup to shut down an at-bat.
For whatever reason, Andrew Benintendi is leading it off for the White Sox. However, the following three are the hot core in the lineup that are hopefully going to remain more consistent to help turn things around: Munetaka Murakami, Miguel Vargas, and Colson Montgomery. And honestly, don’t leave out Everson Pereira batting fifth because after a few horrific at-bats to start the season, he has really turned it around and has been leading the Chicago offense alongside Murakami.
In the last week, Mune ranks sixth in MLB in OPS (1.311) and slugging percentage (.833), and has mashed three homers, driven in seven runs, and walked five times. Montgomery and Vargas have also mashed two bombs apiece in that same time frame, and Montgomery’s 1.117 OPS in his last five games certainly looks a lot better than a couple of weeks ago.
The first pitch on the West Coast is later, at 8:40 p.m. CT. You can tune in at the usual locations: on TV at CHSN or on the radio at ESPN Chicago AM 1000. Back-to-back series wins, anyone?
Jonah Tong bounced back in a big way on Tuesday night.
After allowing six runs in 4.2 innings in his last start (April 14), Tong dominated for Triple-A Syracuse. Pitching against the Worcester WooSox, Tong set down six of the first seven batters he faced, including striking out five.
The Mets' young right-hander would push his strikeout count to six batters through three no-hit innings -- he did allow two walks. He wouldn't allow his first hit until three batters into the fourth inning when Anthony Seigler hit an opposite-field single to left field.
Tong lost his shutout in the sixth, however. He gave up a leadoff double to Nick Sogard and two batters later, Sogard came around to score on a Mickey Gasper one-out single. Red Sox prospect Kristian Campbell followed with a single, knocking Tong out of the game.
Dan Hammer came on to get the final two outs of the sixth (strikeout, lineout) to close the book on Tong's night.
Tong threw 87 pitches (59 strikes) across 5.1 innings, allowing one run on four hits and two walks, while striking out nine batters. He lowered his ERA from 7.04 to 5.66.
On the offensive side, the Syracuse Mets smashed four home runs through the first six innings, including two from Ronny Mauricio.
Mauricio continues his impressive start to the minor league season, going 2-for-3 with a walk through Tuesday's first six innings. Mauricio now has four home runs in his last four minor league games.
In 14 games with Syracuse, Mauricio is batting .302 with five home runs, two doubles, and 11 RBI.
The other two homers came from Nick Morabito and a grand slam from first base prospect Ryan Clifford. It's the third straight game Clifford has homered.
Francisco Lindor knew that the outside noise would only continue to get louder as the Mets’ losing streak dragged on. He knew — and said as much Sunday, after their skid stretched to 11 games — that they needed to stick together. And then Lindor delivered a major swing to help start quieting the frustration himself.
Lindor crushed a pitch from the Twins’ Simeon Woods Richardson into the second deck in right field at Citi Field, giving the Mets a 3-0 lead over Minnesota in the third inning with his second home run of the season.
Everything started in the third with a single from Mark Vientos, and after Carson Benge grounded into a fielder’s choice and Marcus Semien walked. That gave Lindor a chance to produce. He entered play Tuesday with just a .205 average, a .600 OPS and just a .091 average with runners in scoring position this season, but after working a full count, Lindor connected on a four-seam fastball.
It gave the fans at a mostly empty Citi Field something to celebrate. One donned a Grimace costume — a nod to the 2024 Mets. Others erupted in cheers. And it created a different scene than what would’ve happened if Lindor made out and the Mets stranded two just one frame after they couldn’t advance Bo Bichette from first base after he led off with a single.
Lindor needed a moment like that, too. His struggles at the plate — something that’d become normal for him early in recent seasons — had been accompanied by mental lapses in the field and on the bases.
Mets’ Francisco Lindor celebrates after hitting a three-run home run during the third inning. AP
But then his swing on Tuesday took a step toward changing the trajectories for both him and the Mets.
Apr 14, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean (26) throws a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
I thought this meter would be better than the hitting meter because the offense has really been the problem. But honestly? It’s not that much better. There are more positive grades for sure, but there are almost as many pitchers mired in the poop right now as the hitters, which is almost impressive. All of the high leverage relievers that had excellent starts to their seasons have since had at least one blowup each—multiple blowups, in some cases. David Peterson has lost his rotation spot and Kodai Senga is perilously close to doing the same. Though the top three in the Mets’ rotation have been mostly solid, not all is sunshine and rainbows with the pitching staff either. Just about nothing is going right with the Mets, which is, well, how these types of losing streaks happen.
Player
Last week
This week
Huascar Brazobán, RHP
Luis García, RHP
Joey Gerber, RHP
—
Clay Holmes, RHP
Craig Kimbrel, RHP
—
Richard Lovelady, LHP
Sean Manaea, LHP
Nolan McLean, RHP
Tobias Myers, RHP
Freddy Peralta, RHP
David Peterson, RHP
Brooks Raley, LHP
Kodai Senga, RHP
Austin Warren, RHP
—
Luke Weaver, RHP
Devin Williams, RHP
Like with the hitters, there has been some roster turnover since our last meter. Richard Lovelady, who pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings across two appearances on back-to-back days, is now on the Washington Nationals. Luis García, who got lit up in the series finale against the Diamondbacks, was released and picked up by the Twins on a minor league deal. When Lovelady was designated for assignment, the Mets called up Craig Kimbrel, who has been a pleasant surprise and has yet to allow an earned run in his first four Mets appearances, despite taking the loss in Sunday’s walk-off defeat for allowing the ghost runner to score. Briefly on the roster was 28-year-old righty Joey Gerber, who pitched two scoreless innings in his debut in the series opener against the Dodgers in which the Mets were shut out. But unfortunately Gerber is now on the injured list due to a blister and the Mets called up Austin Warren to replace him on the roster. Warren gave up a solo homer on Wednesday in his 2026 debut after things had already gotten out of hand. Given that Christian Scott is set to be called up to start on Thursday and Warren is one of the only optionable arms the Mets have, he may not be long for the roster either.
Things were already out of hand by the time Warren entered the game on Wednesday because Devin Williams gave up a grand slam to Dalton Rushing that put that game out of reach. That outing marked the first runs Williams surrendered as a Met. It wasn’t a good week for Williams, who also blew his first save opportunity as a Met on Sunday by giving up the game-tying run in the ninth. He did strike out three batters in the inning to limit the damage and send the game to extra innings, but a blown save it was nonetheless.
Tobias Myers started Sunday’s game because David Peterson has been jettisoned to the bullpen. They piggybacked Sunday’s game and both pitched well. Myers gave up one hit over two scoreless innings, striking out two and walking one. Peterson followed in bulk relief and pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings. It was a bounce back outing for both of them. Peterson was coming off two poor starts in a row that lost him his rotation spot and would have earned him a poop emoji too if it wasn’t for Sunday’s strong outing. Myers’ run of brilliance to start the season ended when he gave up three runs to the A’s over three innings of long relief, but the Mets were shut out in that game too. Myers also gave up one run over two innings in Wednesday’s 8-2 loss to the Dodgers.
Clay Holmes started Wednesday’s game and took the loss, despite pitching well. He gave up two runs on four hits through five innings of work, striking out four and walking one. Holmes was the starter the day Myers got roughed up by the A’s too and also took the loss in that start despite yielding just one run in 5 1/3 innings of work because the Mets were shut out. Holmes has been one of the few consistent performers on the staff and still earns positive marks, as the two L’s on his ledger are hardly his fault.
Nolan McLean has been the Mets’ best starter though, which is not all that surprising. Both of his most recent starts were games that were blown by the bullpen. On Tuesday, McLean struck out eight over seven fantastic innings, over which he gave up just one run. But of course, the Mets lost 2-1. Against the Diamondbacks, McLean took the loss despite being brilliant through six. In the seventh, he walked the leadoff hitter, retired the next better, and then allowed a single before he was taken out of the game. Both of those runs would come around to score, charged to McLean.
It was Luke Weaver who blew up in that game, allowing both of his inherited runners from McLean to score and then two more of his own for good measure. He followed that up with a nightmarish outing against the A’s last Saturday in which he was lit up for four runs. He only avoid the poop emoji because he bounced back in Chicago with back-to-back scoreless appearances in close games over the weekend. McLean’s other start was blown by Brooks Raley and that outing represented the first blemish on his record all season. He too was scored upon in back-to-back appearances, but not knocked around to the level that Weaver was. Also like Weaver, he bounced back to earn a hold in Sunday’s game.
One of the only relievers who maintained a clean sheet over this terrible stretch is HuascarBrazobán, who is, I believe, the last member of the Opening Day bullpen remaining with a 0.00 ERA. Brazobán did mop-up duty in both of Kodai Senga’s most recent starts, which were both horrific. Senga gets slapped with the poop emoji for that, but still has his rotation spot, albeit tenuously. Brazobán pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Senga against the A’s. He had a rockier outing following Senga against the Cubs, but the Mets’ defense didn’t exactly help his cause. Brazobán issued two walks to load the bases in Sunday’s game with a skinny one-run lead to protect, but escape the jam by striking out Seiya Suzuki.
In the second of Senga’s disastrous starts, Sean Manaea pitched the bulk of long relief and the Cubs piled on against him, tagging him for five runs in four innings of work. His other outing in this twelve-game span was a positive one though; he pitched three hitless innings in a tight game in the series finale against the A’s.
That outing was in relief of Freddy Peralta, who had a very good outing that day, despite the Mets being shut out (I’m sensing a theme here). He delivered a quality start, yielding just one run on four hits through six innings of work, striking out six and walking three. Unfortunately, he took the tough luck loss. He was equally sharp through 5 2/3 in Chicago, but then unfortunately issued back-to-back walks with two outs in the sixth, which both came around to score on a home run surrendered by Brooks Raley. Overall, Peralta has been solid, but gasses quickly in the middle innings.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JULY 12: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches during the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Saturday, July 12, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kavin Mistry/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Shohei Ohtani takes the ball in the middle game of the series between the Dodgers and Giants on Wednesday night at Oracle Park in San Francisco.
Ohtani has pitched exactly six innings in each of his three starts this season, with two total runs allowed, one of them earned. In three career starts against the Giants, Ohtani has allowed two runs, one earned, in 15 innings. He had two six-inning starts with the Angels in 2021 and 2023, and last July 12 in San Francisco struck out four in three scoreless innings, as Ohtani was still in the early stages of building back up in his way back from Tommy John surgery.
Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler (31) warms up on the field during batting practice.
BOSTON — As a kid who grew up in nearby Walpole in the early 2000s, Cam Schlittler acknowledges that the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is not quite what it used to be.
But …
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“I think we’re heading in the right direction,” Schlittler said with a chuckle Tuesday inside the visiting clubhouse at Fenway Park, knowing full well that he has something to do with that.
Since dominating his hometown team in the AL wild-card series last October, Schlittler has done his best to stoke the flames of the rivalry, making for what should be an entertaining first start here for him Thursday night in the series finale. Much of that has centered around the social-media harassment his family received in the lead-up to his playoff start against the Red Sox, and Schlittler using it as fuel and then responding back with both his pitching (in the series-clinching win) and postgame comments (plus a few more on social media).
And while the 25-year-old insists his goal is not just to heat the rivalry back up, it doesn’t hurt either — at least it hasn’t yet.
“I think the goal when you’re playing a division rival is you’re going to perform at the best level,” Schlittler said. “For some guys, if the rivalry feeds them a little bit, like I think it does for me, then great. If not, it doesn’t matter.”
Cam Schlittler warms up during batting practice before the Yankees-Red Sox game on April 21, 2026 at Fenway Park. Jason Szenes for the New York Post
Schlittler, who could be the human personification of the popular Michael Jordan GIF, “and I took that personally,” has long fed off of any possible slight against him during his career, using it as fodder to help him on the mound — along with the three different fastballs he now predominantly uses to attack hitters.
So far, he has been able to toe the line of using it to his advantage and not allowing it to turn into a distraction.
“That’s all I’ve seen — I mean, that’s all [ital] I’ve seen,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He handles it quite well.”
Schlittler indicated he knows how far to go with that kind of stuff.
Cam Schlittler on the field during batting practice before the Yankees-Red Sox game on April 21. Jason Szenes for the New York Post
“I think I handled it really well last year, before that game, just not letting it be a distraction,” he said. “Being able to feed off that when I needed to. Don’t need to go out there and overcompensate or try to do too much. At the end of the day, it’s just doing what I do best and that’s going out there and trying to dominate a lineup.”
Six months after his historic playoff start against the Red Sox, Schlittler and his family are still receiving death threats, he told The Post’s Joel Sherman over the weekend. But he spent two to three months in Boston over the offseason and said in general, his interactions with fans “were great.” That led him to believe that the “typical Boston fans” were not going to give him much problem in person, and that it was “really just the people online that aren’t respectful.”
Of course, that will be put to the test on Thursday when he makes his first career start at Fenway Park. He is not oblivious to how hostile it may get — particularly when he warms up in the bullpen, where fans can essentially breathe down his neck — though he expects it to be a “great atmosphere.”
“He’s a competitive guy, and obviously somebody who walks out there with a lot of confidence,” Boone said.
“Try to have him have less of a social media presence though,” Boone added with a grin.
Schlittler, who went back to his alma mater Northeastern on Monday to throw on the off-day, expects to have plenty of family and friends in attendance Thursday. It was not long ago that he was growing up dreaming of playing at Fenway Park, though until the draft process, those thoughts did not include him being in a Yankees uniform.
They also may not have included him becoming a key figure in giving the rivalry some life again.
“I was a little bit shocked [about the social media hate], that’s all,” Schlittler said. “I think just the game and whatever it was beforehand brought that out of me. Not the goal this year. The goal is to win a championship and whatever I can do to help the team win is exactly what I’m looking to do. I don’t think I’m going to get there by messing with people on social media.”
The Los Angeles Dodgers' two-way phenom singled into right field off of Colorado Rockies starter José Quintana in the third inning on Monday night at Coors Field to extend his on-base streak to 52 games. Now, Ohtani enters Tuesday's away series opener against the archrival San Francisco Giants with the opportunity to tie Shawn Green — who reached base safely in 53 consecutive games in 2000 — for second place on the Dodgers' all-time on-base streak list (since 1900).
If Ohtani ties Green with a hit, walk, or hit-by-pitch in any of his plate appearances on Tuesday, he'd be five games away from the franchise record, which belongs to Hall of Famer Duke Snider. He got on base in 58 straight games in the 1954 season.
Ohtani's streak began back on Aug. 24, 2025. In that time, he's slashed .280/.402/.590 with 56 hits, 16 home runs, 39 walks and three HBPs. He passed “Wee” Willie Keeler (1900-1901) on Sunday to move into third place in the Dodgers' record book after breaking into the top five by surpassing Ron Cey's mark of 47 consecutive games from 1975-76 earlier in the season. On April 10, Ohtani's streak reached 44 games, moving him past Ichiro Suzuki for the longest on-base streak by a Japanese-born player.
“It's a tremendous streak," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters. "It's hard to get on base, certainly when everyone's trying to target you. This streak is one of the great ones, and hopefully he can keep it going.”
If Ohtani can pass Snider's benchmark, he'd still be a ways away from Ted Williams' MLB record of 84 straight games reaching base in 1949.
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 18: Freddy Fermin #54 of the San Diego Padres is congratulated in the dugout after scoring a run on a single by Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 in the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on April 18, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) | Getty Images
San Diego Padres (15-7) at Colorado Rockies (9-14), April 21, 2026, 5:40 p.m. PST
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SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 09: Jimmy Herget #44 of the Colorado Rockies pitches against the San Diego Padres during the first inning at Petco Park on April 09, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Tonight, the Colorado Rockies (9-14) welcome the San Diego Padres (15-7) to Coors Field for the first of a three-game stand.
As a reminder, the Padres swept the Rockies in four games at Petco Park just over a week ago.
Starting for the Padres is Randy Vásquez. This will be his fourth start in 2025.
The righty has a 2.49 ERA in 21.0 IP. He’s struck out 25, walked eight, and given up one home run. Vásquez has a 1.29 WHIP.
Taking the mound for the Rockies will be RHP Jimmy Herget, who will open the game and turn it over to Chase Dollander. This will be his third stint as an opener in 2026.
Currently, Herget has an ERA of 1.64 in 11.0 IP. He’s struck out eight while giving up two walks and no home runs with a 0.91 WHIP.
As for Dollander, this will be his sixth appearance of 2026. In 19.0 IP, he’s earned an ERA of 3.32, including 23 strikeouts and six walks. In addition, Dollander has allowed three home runs.
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 4: Adley Rutschman #35 of the Baltimore Orioles celebrates with teammates in the dugout after scoring on an RBI single by Leody Taveras #30 (not pictured) in the fourth inning during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on April 4, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Adley Rutschman is back in the Orioles lineup. His stay on the IL was the minimum of 10 days, dating back to April 10, when he began dealing with left ankle inflammation. It sounds like his recovery was quite smooth, and he stayed in shape. So no rehab games were needed, and instead he is right back in the mix.
In order to make room for Rutschman on the big league roster, Sam Huff was designated for assignment. Huff had gone 2-for-9 at the plate, with a double, one RBI, zero walks, and five strikeouts during Rutschman’s absence. One would imagine that the O’s will hope to keep Huff in the organization since they clearly preferred him over Maverick Handley in the first place. We shall see. The Orioles 40-man roster is now at 39. Mike Elias is surely scouring the waiver wire today.
Shane Baz will be on the bump. His last time out was his longest as an Oriole. He lasted six innings and allowed four runs on six hits, three walks, and six strikeouts. To this point, the righty has been…fine. But the Orioles probably expect a bit more from him. Specifically, he needs to get more whiffs. Pair that with what has been a better walk rate for him so far and he will be cooking. This Royals team, which has scored the third-fewest runs in MLB to this point, is a good opportunity to show what he can do.
