Category: Baseball

The Cleveland Guardians and Baltimore Orioles faced off for the final game of the four game series. With the Guardians up 2-1 on the series, the worst case was a series split. A welcomed change of pace after dropping back-to-back series.

Joey Cantillo took the mound for the Guards and had a rocky start. In the first 9 pitches, he only threw 2 strikes and had two runners on via a single and walk. Austin Hedges visited the mound and Joey locked in for the next 3 innings. Through the fourth inning he drastically improved his strike/pitch rate and kept Baltimore to two base runners.

The defense behind Cantillo looked to start the game in prime form with David Fry making a stellar catch in right field to end the third.

It took the Guardians a few innings to get the offense rolling. In the bottom of the third inning, Austin Hedges reached on a fielding error then went first to third on Brayan Rocchio’s single. Steven Kwan’s sac fly scored Hedgey, putting Cleveland on the board first.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Guards pulled further ahead of the Orioles, building on their lead. José Ramírez hit a first pitch, lead off home run. He punished the 89.8 mph four-seamer, launching it 408ft to the bleachers.

It didn’t stop there, either. David Fry got on base with a single to left. Daniel Schneemann worked a full count and drew a walk after facing eight pitches. Juan Brito doubled, scoring two. Schneemann had a great jump on Brito’s double. The misread by Oriole’s outfielder Blaze Alexander gave Schnee the timing he needed to score.

The final run of the inning came with two outs. Brayan Rocchio slapped a single to left that scored Brito from second base.

Things fell apart for Cantillo and the defense in the top of the fifth. Joey struggled pitching again, giving up a walk and a single before recording the first out. Taylor Ward hit a home run off of Cantillo, bringing the Orioles within two runs of tying. With two outs, Pete Alonso singled and Jonathan Rodríguez walked, putting Cantillo in the same situation for the second time in the inning resulting in his early pull from the game. Vogt turned to Matt Festa to finish out the inning. Matt Festa did his job, getting a hit directly to the second baseman Juan Brito sure to end the inning. Except, Brito committed a throwing error, loading the bases instead. The Baltimore pinch hitter hit up the middle in what should have been the third out, again. And, again, Juan Brito couldn’t flip the ball to Brayan Rocchio in time for the out, resulting in a fielder’s choice that brought Baltimore within one and loaded the bases. Thankfully Steven Kwan was able to nab a fly out to center to finally retire the side. Cantillo finished the day having gone 4.2IP, 5H, 4R/3ER, 6K.

José Ramírez came up to bat in the bottom of the fifth with one out and promptly reminded us fans that he is capable of single handedly changing the flow of a game. José saw a ball, took a strike, and then launched a low changeup to the porch in left field.

His second home run of the game aptly put him in sole possession of second most home runs at home in franchise history.

Peyton Pallette came out in the top of the sixth to pitch for Cleveland. He made two quick outs and was assisted by a great play in left by Angel Martínez to retire the side.

Peyton stayed in, going 1-2-3 in the seventh. Erik Sabrowski came on in the eighth giving up a walk, but then striking out the next three batters. In the bottom of the eighth Rhys Hoskins drew a lead off walk, and with David Fry’s single up the middle and a walk from Daniel Schneemann, they loaded the bases with no outs. Brayan Rocchio delivered with a two-out, two-run single on a liner to center.

Shawn Armstrong closed the game out in a non-save situation. Armstrong and Angel retired the Orioles 1-2-3, with Angel making another great catch in center. The Guardians win the game and win the series. The Houston Astros are coming to town for a three game series starting tomorrow night, in Cleveland.

The Orioles dropped the finale of their four-game series to the Guardians, 8-4, as their offense underachieved again, their defense continued to stink, and their erstwhile ace coughed up six runs and suffered a noticeable velocity dip in his second straight ugly outing.

Other than that, though, it was a great afternoon of baseball.

The first four innings of this game featured the classic combination of terrible 2026 Orioles baseball — offensive futility and defensive shenanigans — along with the unfortunate new wrinkle of a horrendous Trevor Rogers performance. Normally, Trevor Rogers Day is one of celebration, in which fans can take comfort that they’ll at least get a quality outing from the Orioles ace. Today, though, he was sucked into the abyss of ineptitude that’s swallowed up so many of his teammates.

Things started out innocently enough, with Rogers mowing down the first seven batters he faced. But then came the defensive shenanigans I referred to earlier, and Rogers has nobody to blame but himself. On an Austin Hedges grounder to first base, Rogers raced to the bag to receive the feed from Pete Alonso, and then just…ran right past the base. He couldn’t get back before Hedges reached safely, and Cleveland had a gift baserunner on the Rogers error.

The Guardians, of course, took full advantage, because every Orioles defensive misplay is required to lead to at least one run. It’s in the MLB rulebook, look it up. Brayan Rocchio advanced Hedges to third on a single, and Steven Kwan scored him on a sac fly. An inning later, the Guardians made it 2-0 when José Ramírez blasted Rogers for a home run to left, the 290th of his Hall of Fame career. Well, there’s no shame in giving up a dinger to a guy like that, and at least things hadn’t spiraled out of control for Rogers.

…Oh. I spoke too soon. After the home run, Rogers suddenly couldn’t get anyone out. A single and a walk brought up Juan Brito, who lofted a shot to deep center field. It wasn’t an easily catchable ball, but a natural center fielder might’ve had a play on it. Unfortunately, the Orioles’ center fielder on this day was infielder Blaze Alexander, who got himself turned around and had no chance to reach the warning track as the ball fell in safely. Two runs scored on the double. If I could make a humble suggestion to the Orioles: maybe stop playing infielders in the outfield?

Two batters later, Brito scored on a Rocchio RBI single, extending the Cleveland lead to 5-0. It marked the second straight outing in which Rogers allowed four or more runs, something he hadn’t done since May 2024 with the Marlins (somehow he didn’t even do it in his disastrous four-start debut with the Orioles in September 2024). Not only that, but Rogers’ fastball velocity was notably down nearly 3 mph from his average. It’s fine. This is fine. Everything is fine. Rogers gutted through five innings, but coughed up a second Ramírez homer before he left.

As for the Orioles’ offense, well, the majority of the game was the same, sad story we’ve seen this whole series and most of the season. Birds hitters looked completely inept against a cavalcade of Cleveland pitchers, making weak contact — when they made contact at all — and coming up empty in most RBI situations. The O’s put up goose eggs in eight of their nine offensive innings.

The only exception was the top of the fifth, when it briefly looked like the O’s might stage a multi-run comeback like they did in Friday’s win. Starting the inning with a 5-0 deficit, the Orioles put two runners on base for Taylor “Two Bags” Ward, who added an extra two bags in this case, cranking a three-run homer to left field to whittle the deficit to 5-3. At long last, Ward — who homered 36 times for the Angels last year — picked up his first dinger as an Oriole in his 22nd game. He’s been one of the Birds’ best hitters all season, so I wasn’t going to rag on the guy for not homering, but it’s nice to get that first one into the ledger.

The rally continued, thanks to some bad Guardians defense. With two outs, Pete Alonso singled and Johnathan Rodríguez walked, chasing starter Joey Cantillo from the game. Against reliever Matt Festa, Jeremiah Jackson shuffled a grounder to the hole on the right side. The second baseman Brito fielded it cleanly but yanked a wild throw to first, allowing Jackson to reach. The next batter, pinch-hitter Dylan Beavers, rolled a grounder near the second base bag. Again Brito fielded cleanly but again muffed the throw, lobbing too late to the shortstop Rocchio as Jackson slid in safely to second. Beavers had a gift RBI and suddenly it was just a one-run game, 5-4, with the bases loaded and the chance for more damage.

Sadly, Coby Mayo flied out harmlessly, and the Orioles essentially never threatened again. Despite the Birds’ success against the Cleveland bullpen earlier in the series, they had no answer for the Guardians’ relief crew on this day. Rule 5 righty Peyton Pallette painted the strike zone for two perfect innings, followed by a scoreless inning apiece from Erik Sabrowski and ex-Oriole Shawn Armstrong. The Guardians added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth on Rocchio’s two-run single off Cameron Foster.

Before that, at least, Tyler Wells had his best outing of 2026 with two perfect innings, including five strikeouts. It’d be nice if Wells could do that in high-leverage situations, but kudos to him in any case. Tyler’s performance was one of the few highlights in another all-around ugly, lackluster showing by what’s becoming an increasingly uncompetitive Orioles team.

After getting absolutely annihilated in his previous start on Monday in Minnesota to the tune of 11 runs in just 1.2 innings, Garrett Crochet is set to retake the mound today and convince us all that everything will be fine as far as he and his health are concerned.

Unfortunately, he won’t just be battling the Tigers. Mother Nature is once again destined to play a roll in today’s match up, and here’s how the radar looks inside of an hour from first pitch:

The good news is the initial batch of heavier precipitation has moved out and east of Boston, but more unsettled weather still lurks to the west ahead of a slow moving front. That mess will push through eastern Massachusetts over the next several hours, filling in the current dry slot. While this incoming precipitation won’t be as heavy as what fell at times earlier today, it will come attached with colder and windier conditions, so a miserable weather game lies ahead (if they even try and play through it at all — The Yankees did not and waited around for three hours before starting their game against the Royals at 4:20pm). The other option will be to just wait until after sunset when it will be dryer, but still very cold and windy.

When they do get started, today’s lineup includes Roman Anthony leading off in leftfield, Andruw Monasterio at first base, and Jarren Duran, Masataka Yoshida, and Marcelo Mayer all starting on the bench with an opposing left-handed starter on the mound in Framber Valdez for Detroit.

OTM’s own pitching guru Jacob Roy will be around later to handle the postgame wrap and tell us if we should should be freaking out or breathing a sigh a relief when it comes to Crochet.

A sweep on Sunday Night Baseball sounds pretty sweet to me.

The Atlanta Braves will run with their standard lineup opposing RHPs to face Phillies rookie Andrew Painter. Michael Harris II, who came into last night’s game in the seventh once lefty Cristopher Sanchez departed, is back in his usual spot in the nine hole and in center field. Dominic Smith (of the big moments) is penciled in to bat seventh. Does his .362 / 1.040 OPS tear make him one of the best hitters ever designated? Some are saying… but discuss amongst yourselves.

Series finale! #BravesCountrypic.twitter.com/OUF4hqnQ0x

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 19, 2026

The Phillies are looking to salvage the series.

Catcher JT Realmuto is absent for the finale, dealing with the lower back tightness that caused him to leave the game in the top of the seventh last night.

Instead, we’ll see Brandon Marsh patrol left field and batting fifth, Bryson Stott at second base and batting seventh, backup catcher Rafael Marchán batting eighth, and Justin Crawford batting ninth.

Sunday Night Phils#RingTheBellpic.twitter.com/aJg61iDVgm

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 19, 2026

A four game set awaits in the nation’s capitol. But first, the only team to not lose a series yet this season will try for their first sweep against their division rivals in Philly starting at 7:20 pm ET on Peacock. (And thankfully, C.J. Nitkowskiwill be in the booth tonight!)

ICYMI

Preview

Mariners pitcher Bryce Miller made his first start in a competitive game since February 26th yesterday in Tacoma, beginning a rehab assignment that will last through at least the end of May. Miller was on a pitch count/innings limit of around 35 pitches and two innings, and wound up pitching 1.2 innings and throwing 33 pitches, 21 of them for strikes. He gave up three runs on four hits, with a walk and a pair of strikeouts (although one of them came on a batter pitch timer violation).

Bryce Miller to begin rehab assignment, creating good problem for Mariners

The most exciting thing about Miller’s outing was the velocity on his fastballs. The first pitch he threw was a 98.1 four-seamer that just nicked the outer edge. He went on to hit 98.7 with the first pitch to his second hitter, missing low, but beating his hardest career pitch—which was 98.3 to George Springer in the ALCS, and which he then followed up with two more fastballs (97.8, 97.9) that were harder than any he’s thrown since 2023.

The positive upward trend continued for Miller’s lone spring training outing, where his velocity was again up, touching 98.4, and it’s a positive sign that he’s been able to carry that through his bullpens during his rehab process and into his first rehab start, where his four-seam averaged 97.1 mph and his sinker average was up to 96.7 on average.

What Miller needs to work on next is making sure he’s still able to hit his spots with that increased velocity; his fastball had a ton of downward action in his outing in Tacoma, but he missed at the bottom of the zone a few times, including a particularly violent spike at 97.8 mph that resulted in a walk.

Beyond his four-seamer, Miller’s most favored pitch in his outing was his slider, which he threw with the new grip he’s learned from Bryan Abreu in Houston. (Don’t be fooled by his slider velocity average on Gameday, which incorrectly labels a 92 mph cutter as a slider.) He missed with it outside some, but also had success when he was able to get it to be “depthy,” something he said he was working on in Arizona.

The bigger breakers – the curve and the splitter – were harder for Miller to corral, and he hung a few, but was still able to get a couple of whiffs on the splitter, and he got a groundout on the curve. Miller threw a handful of cutters, generating weak contact; touted Giants prospect Bryce Eldridge got on top of the pitch and rolled over it for an easy groundout.

When Miller was commanding the bottom of the zone, the River Cats batters were pounding his stuff into the dirt; he gave up one line drive base hit, on a poorly located fastball that was hit hard, but everything else was on the ground, with a couple of hits sneaking through.

For Miller, what he was concerned about in his outing was re-adjusting to the pitch clock after such a long layoff, a challenge made more stringent in working with a less-familiar catcher with his rich pitch mix. Physically, though, he said he felt fine and is looking forward to his next start. Miller’s next rehab start will be Friday in Everett, where he’ll be caught by Mariners prospect Luke Stevenson, marking an exciting challenge for the youngster to catch a big-league arm. For this outing, he’ll try to stretch to three innings, with a pitch cap of 45.

It’s fun to see a walk off but let’s not forget that the A’s were not only outmatched on Friday by the score of 9-2, but they also began their first trips to the plate yesterday down 5-0. Yes, they clawed back into it but this is the Chicago White Sox we’re talking about. That should be expected. Not to mention they had the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th with one out and couldn’t make anything happen. Thankfully Jack Perkins had “prove it” written across his forehead and the A’s were able to march into the 11th with the score still knotted at six. The bottom of the lineup played hero once again, the A’s continue to be tied with the Rangers for the division lead, and yet I still can’t shake the feeling that history is going to repeat itself. May is just right around the corner and we’ve been here before. We’ve been excited about the showings of this A’s core in the early goings, we’ve even seen an exciting A’s walk off against the White Sox for the second straight season. But what lies ahead? Can the A’s bullpen, one held together by bubble gum, stay fresh? Will Joel Kuhnel be the next Ryan Cook or the next Ryan Dull? And what do we do with Luis Severino? Even he can’t point a finger at the friendly confines of Sutter Heath Park, as his overall performance compared to last season has been remarkably off-kilter.

Maybe some much needed time in the “Luis Severino room” will help him figure out what the hell is going on.

Raw honesty from Luis Severino on his home start struggles:

🎥: @SeanCunninghampic.twitter.com/zOBVrnmH97

— SleeperAthletics (@SleeperAth) April 19, 2026

Another walk off today will not be acceptable. It’s Jeffrey Springs Sunday and I expect nothing but a win by five or more runs. Momentum is a tricky thing in baseball. It doesn’t always translate series to series but we might as well enter next week’s road series against Seattle with a little mustard on the hot dog. In fact, the next six games are against both the Mariners and the Rangers – – two teams with postseason pedigree in recent years, that the A’s need to prove they can hang with on a consistent basis.

Here’s the lineup behind Springs…

Springs on the bump to secure a series win. #Athleticspic.twitter.com/x29b1lRVvt

— Uprooted (@uprootedoakland) April 19, 2026

Some shuffling has been done by Mark Kotsay. Andy Ibanez batting cleanup and Zack Gelof in right field are interesting picks. I thought maybe Kotsay was playing he Ibanez card based off of his history against the White Sox’s stater, going back to his days as a Tiger, but it turns out this is Noah Schultz’s second big league start. What does Kotsay know here that we don’t? Based off of some of his bullpen choices, some might argue very few. The decision to only roll with one lefty in the pen still baffles me. However, he did it make it up by putting our secret weapon into the mix yesterday.

I think we can all agree that the true tragedy of this ballgame is that we didn't get to watch J.T. Ginn try to walk it off with the bases juiced in the bottom of the eleventh. #Athleticspic.twitter.com/D294yzc0uA

— Uprooted (@uprootedoakland) April 18, 2026

Looking forward to seeing how this version of the lineup fares against the Whit Sox and their young lefty. In Schultz’s big league debut against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, he tossed 4.1 innings, gave up 3 ER on 3 hits, while giving up a walk for every strikeout recorded (4). Not a dazzling performance by any means, but there’s a lot of buzz around the kid and the A’s have been guilty of giving up Chase Dollander’s to guys like these.

Noah Schultz on the bump! pic.twitter.com/f9UG6j9v5O

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) April 19, 2026

Beware of the “powa” provided by Munetaka Murakami. I’d say that the lefty-lefty match between him and Springs is favorable but we also saw what he did to Hogan Harris yesterday on a CHECK SWING.

That being said, Hogan Harris is no Jeffrey Springs. The A’s starter has been absolutely brilliant to begin the season, including a start at home against the Astros where he shoved for seven frames. Last year against the White Sox, at home, Springs did struggle through the early innings, This is something to be mindful of as we enter today’s play.

Just having a clean first inning this series would be nice. Six runs total have been given up against the White Sox in the first inning of the first two games. Here’s to the A’s changing that tune, as they go for the series win against the Southsiders!

Game three of three with the Diamondbacks.

I’m putting the GameThreads together before leaving on holiday, which seemed like a better idea before I started doing it. Normally, a GameThread is pretty quick and easy, but when you are doing 20-some in a row, it loses some of the fun.

Thankfully, I’m near the end. I’ll be home on the 22nd, and I can go back to the normal way of doing things…that’s when I realize, about 10 minutes before game time that I need to put up a GameThread and I rush to get it up before the game starts. I’ve been on the site for several years now, and yet that seems to be the way I do GameThread, like I’m surprised it has to be done. But that is better than doing 21 in one sitting.

I guess I could just type Go Jays Go, fifty times to get up to that 150 word mark.

It’s Noah Schultz day, everyone!

The second big league start for the highly-hyped 22-year-old Chicagoland native is imminent, making for one of the more highly anticipated April contests in recent memory.

Let’s make a few observations about Schultz’s debut start so we can understand what we might expect today. Per Baseball Savant, Schultz flashed his entire six-pitch arsenal, but largely relied on four offerings. He used his sinker and four-seam fastball in roughly equal proportion to both right- and left-handed hitters, both clocking in around 97 mph, which would be the fourth-fastest average among all big league lefties this year. Against lefty hitters, Schultz turned to the sweeper as his out pitch, which worked to the extent that hitters went 0-for-3 against it with two strikes. Against righties, Schultz turned into someone Lance Lynn-esque, putting together an even mix of four-seamers, sinkers and cutters that function somewhat like a breaking ball. Now and then, he’ll also try to get a hitter with a back-foot sweeper that’s almost reminiscent of how Carlos Rodón would attack hitters at his peak.

The thing to watch out for today is Schultz’s changeup. He threw it 14% of the time in Triple-A against righties, but on Tuesday he only utilized it twice. With Jeff McNeil and Carlos Cortes getting a day off, the A’s are running out a heavily right-handed lineup. Schultz will need that changeup to keep developing, because his command of his sweeper and slider to righties was spotty on Tuesday and he needs a secondary out pitch to keep hitters on their toes in the event they’re not biting on breaking balls. If Schultz can command those pitches better or find a way to effectively utilize his changeup, we could be looking at a quite fun start on our hands.

Here’s the lineup that Sacramento manager Mark Kotsay has posted for his surprisingly competitive squad, who are sitting in a tie for first place in the AL West at this early junction:

Will Venable counters with the following behind Schultz:

Incredibly, this is the 18th different lineup in 18 games for Venable, continuing to put himself at odds with my fierce assertion that “consistency is key.” Anyhow, the the main alteration for the day being Miguel Vargas’s ascension to the 2-spot, his first start there of the year. It’s quite a relief that the Andrew Benintendi Leadoff Experiment may already have run its course.

The one-two punch of Chase Meidroth and Vargas is an arrangement that I actually like a lot. Both of them are quite difficult to strike out and adept at making contact with most of what they swing at. With the whiff-prone ways of Munetaka Murakami, Colson Montgomery and Everson Pereira, it makes sense to precede them with hitters who can get on base the old-fashioned way, and sometimes give upcoming hitters an extended look at the pitcher’s arsenal if their ability to make contact results in long at-bats.

Speaking of which, Pereira has been rewarded for his early slugging by batting cleanup for the fourth time this week at the expense of Montgomery. Sam Antonacci gets the afternoon off.

Before the game, the White Sox announced that the revolving door of 13th pitchers on the roster continues, as freshly-claimed Osvaldo Bido (6.30 ERA in six games with Atlanta) pushes Doug Nikhazy back down to Charlotte.

And just for the hell of it, here’s the video of Murakami’s mammoth grand slam the other night:

First pitch is scheduled for at 3:05 p.m. CT, live from Sacramento. If you want to join us, broadcasts are available on CHSN (TV) and WMVP AM 1000 (radio) like always!

Last night the Mariners ended their four-game skid, and today they can get back on track with another victory over the Rangers, bringing a series victory as well. The Mariners have won one series so far this season, sweeping the Astros in 4 games at T-Mobile, but considering the state of that team, it’s not as impressive a feat as one might imagine. That very series victory is sandwiched between two long losing streaks, a 5-game losing streak leading up to the series and a 4-game losing streak following that, which they ended last night. Needless to say, the Mariners are not exactly sitting pretty at the moment. Today offers the chance to win their second series of the season and hopefully right the ship and find some more victories for the rest of April.

Bryan Woo will take the mound tonight against MacKenzie Gore. Gore was acquired by the Rangers over the winter to boost a much-depleted pitching staff, a common theme for AL West teams this season. Gore hasn’t given up more than 3 runs in any of his 5 starts so far this season and has only given up two home runs all season long. Gore walked 6 in his most recent start, so it’s not like he’s been inhuman to start the season. If the Mariners can show patience and discipline at the plate and put the pressure of baserunners on Gore, they may be able to get to him in ways few have so far this season. So far this season, the Mariners are 6th in MLB in walk rate, so if they can just keep doing what they’ve been doing, I like their chances. On the other end, the Mariners are sending Bryan Woo to the mound for his 5th start of the season and remain in search of his first win. While Woo has certainly been good, the Mariners have failed to launch on the offensive side of the ball in the games Woo has been starting. Despite being stingy about runs and baserunners, Woo only has three no-decisions and two losses to show for his efforts. Hopefully, today will be the day that Woo can get back to winning ways, much like the Mariners themselves.

Game Information

First Pitch: 1:10 pm

Radio: Seattle Sports (710 AM) and Mariners.com

TV: Mariners TV

Lineups

Today In Mariners History

• 2012 – Félix Hernández struck out 12 in 8.0 shutout innings, but the Mariners lost 2-1 when Cleveland scored a pair of runs off closer Brandon League in the top of the 9th inning.
• 2018 – The Mariners turned the 12th triple play in club history, a 5-4-3 affair in the 4th inning of a 2-9 loss to the Astros.

Texas Rangers @ Seattle Mariners

Sunday, April 19, 2026, 3:10 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

T-Mobile Park

LHP MacKenzie Gore vs. RHP Bryan Woo

Go Rangers!

San Diego Padres (14-7) at Los Angeles Angels (11-11), April 19, 2026, 1:07 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Angel Stadium – Anaheim, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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Closing out the series. pic.twitter.com/MhnC4Ht1mn

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 19, 2026

matinee matchup 🎥

📺: FanDuel Sports Network West
📻: @AngelsRadioKLAA | AM830 App & KWKW 1330 [Spanish] #RepTheHalo x @FBMSupplypic.twitter.com/osoTJ5t4HE

— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) April 19, 2026

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Rob Thomson lays out Taijuan Walker plan as Zack Wheeler nears return originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

To begin the season, every five days, Taijuan Walker has toed the slab for the Phillies.

With Zack Wheeler on the shelf to open the year, the club needed its tall right-hander to eat innings, keep the Phillies in games and bridge the gap until the ace’s return.

Walker, though, has not done that consistently. And his biggest issue has come right away — in the first inning — when he has dug the Phillies into early holes at a time when the offense has struggled to score.

Through four starts, Walker owns a league-worst 24.75 ERA in the opening frame, allowing 11 runs on 12 hits, three homers and five walks. Opponents are slashing .500/.567/.917 against him in the first inning, good for a 1.483 OPS.

The next-highest first-inning ERAs belong to Washington’s Jake Irvin and Colorado’s Michael Lorenzen at 15.75.

With the same qualifier, Walker’s mark would be the highest in the National League since Eric Nolte posted a 23.63 first-inning ERA for San Diego in 1991.

This is nothing new for Walker, either. Since signing with the Phillies in 2023, he leads the Majors in first-inning ERA at 8.41 among pitchers with at least 70 starts in that span.

Because of that, the Phillies changed Walker’s pregame routine before his last outing, trying to build more intensity at the end of his bullpen session so he would be in more of a game rhythm by first pitch. It did not solve the issue. Walker still gave up two runs in the first against the Braves.

So with Wheeler nearing a return after his fifth minor league rehab start, the natural question started to loom:

What is the plan for Walker now?

The right-hander had been lined up to start Wednesday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, but Rob Thomson announced Sunday that the Phillies will use an opener, with Walker still in line to follow.

“No,” Thomson said when asked if Walker would start. “We’re gonna open it.”

Whether entering in the second or third inning helps him is still to be seen. But the Phillies are clearly willing to try something different. As Thomson put it, “It’s just kind of trialing.”

The thought process is simple enough. Walker has to be more aggressive early in outings and avoid falling behind.

“He’s just got to attack, not get behind,” Thomson said.

Walker’s role beyond this week still appears to depend in large part on how Wheeler feels, even once he returns.

Wheeler pitched Sunday for Double-A Reading in Bridgewater, N.J., and allowed four earned runs — including two home runs — on six hits while striking out four in four innings. He threw 77 pitches, short of the 90-pitch goal, and the chilly weather did him no favors.

Thomson said the curveball looked good and thought the outing was fine considering the conditions.

“The curveball was good. Very cold,” Thomson said. “48 strikes, so considering how cold it was, I thought that was pretty good. The velocity was down a little bit, but I think that’s understandable.”

The pitch count plan was adjusted because of pitches inning-by-inning.

“We wanted to get him up to 90, but there were a lot of long innings in between,” Thomson said. “I just decided to get him out.”

That leaves Wheeler’s return date a little less clear than it looked a few days ago. When asked whether Wheeler will rejoin the rotation this coming weekend, Thomson did not commit.

“We’ve got to get him back here and talk to him, figure out where we’re going,” he said.

When Wheeler does come back, though, Thomson did not dismiss Walker still having a place on the Major League staff.

“Yeah,” he said when asked if Walker still has a rotation role. “Well, we think he’s gonna get better.”

That could mean a move into a long relief role, which is where Walker finished last year. But Thomson also did not rule out a six-man rotation, something they considered last September when Aaron Nola was returning from injury and the club signed Walker Buehler.

“If there was a long stretch of games without a day off, sure,” he said.

That possibility would make some sense. It could help manage Andrew Painter’s innings later in the season, ease some stress off Wheeler’s arm and give the Phillies’ left-handed starters an extra day when needed.

The Phillies at least have reason to think creatively about the staff beyond the top five. The rotation has gotten off to a slow start, particularly Jesús Luzardo, whose 7.94 ERA is the worst among qualifiers. Walker, who does not qualify because of innings, is at 9.16.

They have gotten solid outings from Cristopher Sánchez, Aaron Nola and Painter, but the offense has not done the rotation many favors.

If the Phillies were hitting to their standards, the spotlight on the final rotation spot — or a possible sixth — might not feel so magnified. But that is where things stand for a team that opened 8-12.

UPDATE ON REALMUTO AND MILLER

Thomson also provided an update on catcher J.T. Realmuto and top prospect Aidan Miller.

Realmuto, who exited Saturday’s game, was still sore Sunday and only available in an emergency role.

“He’s still a little sore,” Thomson said. “He’s available on emergency tonight.”

Thomson said he did not expect it to be a long-term issue, but the Phillies were still checking on him.

There was more news on Miller. The Phillies’ top-ranked prospect still has not resumed swinging a bat, but he is moving closer.

“He’s now taking ground balls,” Thomson said. “He’s doing everything except for swing. We’re hoping to get him going this week if everything goes well enough.”

An encouraging update on that front.

The Dodgers look to bounce back after a tough defeat as they take on the Colorado Rockies in Denver on Sunday. Roki Sasaki makes his fourth start of the season against right-hander Michael Lorenzen.

Today’s #Dodgers lineup at Rockies: pic.twitter.com/GgOCSNEWMj

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 19, 2026

SUNDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Rockies
• Stadium: Coors Field, Denver, CO
• Time: 12:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 (Spanish)

Texas Rangers lineup for April 18, 2026 against the Seattle Mariners: starting pitchers are MacKenzie Gore for the Rangers and Bryan Woo for the Mariners.

This is the final game of a long, grueling, ten game road trip.

The lineup:

Nimmo — RF

Seager — SS

Langford — LF

Burger — 1B

Pederson — DH

Jung — 3B

Carter — CF

Smith — 2B

Jansen — C

3:10 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are +120 underdogs.

Select folks in the Battery Power community (in our comments and Feed) and the FOX broadcast last night seemed to be of a similar mindset – underestimating the boys from Cobb County. Pitching matchups favoring PHI, the stars in their lineup on the verge of breaking out, and the home turf advantage / house of horrors disadvantage of Citizens Bank… some folks posited it would be understandable and okay if we left Pennsylvania with one win. 

Yes, it’s an April series. Yes, we’ll see them again in less than a week when they come to town. But if we’re to wholeheartedly believe in these 2026 vibes and this league-leading run differential, it felt important to take care of business, particularly when it’s of the NL East variety.

And here we are: one run given up in 18 innings and poised to sweep the Philadelphia Phillies at their own ballpark. Let’s get greedy!

Following last night’s marquee matchup, Grant Holmes and Andrew Painter will face off tonight on Peacock. 

It feels like we’re always saying this about our starters, but Holmes (1-1, 3.32 ERA) will really be looking for a bounceback outing after his last one. He was pretty vocal about his incredibly short leash against the Marlins (59 pitches in four innings, 24 for strikes). And to his point, things were looking good after three perfect innings… but a BABIP one from hell would end his day. Weiss, after smoothing things over with his pitcher, attributed some of it to the righty’s workload in his last start in Anaheim, where he threw 99 pitches.  

Holmes last started against Philadelphia on April 5, 2025, where he went four, walked four, and fanned six in an eventual Braves loss. No one has more than 4 ABs against him, but the ones with a single hit to date are Adolis García, Bryson Stott, and Brandon Marsh. Harper has walked twice.

Phillies #2 prospect and rookie Andrew Painter (1-1, 3.77 ERA) will toe the rubber for the other side, making his third career start. His last outing was five innings of one run ball, limiting Arizona to three hits, one walk and striking out seven. The kicker? It was all in relief – he did all of that after waking up with a gnarly migraine and throwing up several times before the matinee game. Despite the late scratch, he recovered enough to enter in the third and do his part, even if the Phillies would go on to lose 4-3. 

Painter’s fastball can touch 97 mph while he mixes in sliders, sinkers, and curveballs. Don’t be surprised if he sprinkles in the occasional sweeper.

We’re hoping to see the Braves staff pitch out of their minds like they have so far. Should something happen to Holmes early, a well-rested bullpen awaits the call (likely minus Suarez, and Iggy’s status dependent on how he slept last night). 

But a dominant offensive performance like Friday night’s would also be very welcome. Fresh in my mind is the Braves doing very little against a different stellar rookie in Cleveland’s Parker Messick. However, the Braves dinked and doinked three unearned runs on their way into delivering Cristopher Sanchez his first loss of the season, so truly anything feels possible. 

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Sunday, April 19, 7:20 p.m. EDT

Location: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA

TV: Peacock

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan