Category: Baseball

By any account, the Yankees’ superlative play as of late has made them the favorites in an AL East division that looked hyper-competitive coming into the year. The Rays are close in New York’s rearview mirror, but the heavy hitters that everyone expected to compete with the Yankees in the division this year, the Orioles, Blue Jays, and Red Sox, have all gotten off to starts that range from “sluggish” to “borderline apocalyptic”. To wit, FanGraphs’ projections put the Yankees’ median win forecast for the season a full ten wins higher than that of any of their division rivals.

But we’ve seen this movie before. The Yankees have gotten out to pretty great starts in most of their recent seasons, but they haven’t always been able to seal the deal in the division. So, even with the Yankees looking strong, which of their division rivals do you think has the best chance to re-emerge in the coming weeks?

Tampa Bay has pole position, or at least, they do among the chase pack in the division. The Rays are just two games back, staying close to the Yankees even as New York went on their eight-game win streak. I wouldn’t say the Rays have the strongest roster in this division, not by a longshot, but they’ve won games thus far and perennially find ways to wring the most out of their 26 players.

And then, there are the Sox, Jays, and O’s, all of whom have starrier rosters than Tampa but haven’t been able to get out of their own way in 2026. Per FanGraphs’ rest-of-season forecasts, the Blue Jays project to have the best roster among this group, thanks in no small part to the fact that even though they’re limping now, Toronto will at some point get some of their injured players back. Will it be too late to turn things for the defending AL champs?

The Red Sox also have a roster that looks better than their record, but they’ve plunged themselves into chaos, upending their organizational chart a month into the season. The Orioles are the most boring of these underachieving teams, not snake bitten thus far like Toronto, nor stepping on rakes like Boston. Baltimore is just a team that looked like it should be pretty decent in 2026, and so far has been a little less than decent. Perhaps that puts them in the best position to move up, as there doesn’t seem to be anything stopping them from playing better other than just, well, playing better.

What do you think? Who will prove to be the toughest rival the rest of the way out?

It’ll be a loaded day on the site today, starting off with Michael’s review of last week on the farm for the Yankees, Kevin’s recap of Monday night’s American League action, and Sam’s celebration of Tom Sturdivant as part of our Yankees Birthday series. Later, Peter’s At-bat of the Week highlights José Caballero, Andrés praises Caballero’s work filling in for Anthony Volpe, and Josh discusses who on the Yankees should have the green light to challenge balls and strikes.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees at Texas Rangers

Time: 8:05 p.m. EST

Video: Amazon Prime Video, Rangers Sports Network

Venue: Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX

MLB Trade Rumors | Anthony Franco: The Giancarlo Stanton Calf Saga is essentially at the conclusion that always seemed most likely. The Yankees had the roster flexibility to wait and see how Stanton’s tight calf responded to a couple days of rest after he was pulled from their game on Friday in Houston, but they did have him undergo an MRI. They got the results last night, and he will now hit the IL with a “low grade” strain — not dire, but enough that they knew they couldn’t keep burning a roster spot.

Following Luis Gil’s Sunday night demotion, Jasson Domínguez had just been promoted yesterday to get some reps against the Rangers with Stanton unavailable. Now, they’ll be able to call up a pitcher to take an extra bullpen spot, as they won’t need a fifth starter until May 5th. Triple-A relievers Yerry De los Santos and Kervin Castro are the most likely possible options for the ’pen since they hold 40-man roster spots, though Yovanny Cruz is also a possibility.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: Both Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón have begun their rehab assignments, with the potential top two in the rotation due to return to the big-league roster soon enough. However, preventative care with both pitchers will be needed, and Cam Schlittler is also still in his first full MLB season. There’s therefore been some talk about how the club will manage all those concurrent needs, though it seems unlikely that a six-man rotation will be entertained. Matt Blake himself quashed speculation yesterday by pointing out that an extra man in the rotation leaves the bullpen a man short, and that seems outside the bounds of the Yankees’ risk profile.

NJ.com | Randy Miller: Once again, the Yankees boast a top-five offense in the game, and once again nobody walks more than the Bronx Strollers. A league-high 12.6 percent BB rate means there’s often a great deal of traffic for Yankee hitters, and that approach has been a hallmark of Aaron Boone’s time as manager. There have been instances this season where I feel the Yankees have been a little too passive however, and while a .197 ISO also paces the league, it’s a couple of ticks lower than last year’s mark, and might indicate that the club is leaving runs on the table by just walking.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: After a brutal start to the season, Jazz Chisholm Jr. seems to finally be returning to his baseline. The Yankee second baseman has had back-to-back strong series against the Red Sox and Astros — ABS challenges aside but more on that later today — after getting an extra day off against the Royals two weeks ago. Jazz used that time to reset some mechanical issues and move slightly back in the box, two tweaks that he’s credited with helping him get off better swings.

New York Post | Brooke Steinberg: One of the downsides of being arguably the most famous sports team in the world is apparently that a whole lot of people express their fandom through their passwords. A recent study shows literally millions of Yankee-related passwords have been leaked online, reminding even baseball fans to come up with stronger, more creative roadblocks for their personal data.

It was almost shocking to see. The most dominant closer in the MLB allowed a run. In fact, he allowed two runs. San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller worked 34 2/3 innings without allowing a runner to cross the plate. That streak came to an end in the top of the ninth inning against the Chicago Cubs, but the Padres still walked off the field with a 9-7 series-opening win at Petco Park on Monday night.

Miller came into the game in a non-save situation after Gavin Sheets crushed a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give San Diego a 9-5 lead over Chicago heading into the ninth inning. Miller started warming when the Padres had an 8-5 lead and Sheets found himself in an 0-2 hole with two outs before he hit a 422-foot blast into the right field seats.

Miller no longer had an opportunity to earn his 11th save of the season, but San Diego manager Craig Stammen brought him in to get the final three outs of the game, which he eventually did, but not before he got into the first trouble, he has faced all season. Miller allowed a single to Matt Shaw on a ball down the third base line that was not hit hard enough to reach third base. Ty France, who was at third for Manny Machado after he left the game with a left leg injury, allowed the ball to roll into what appeared to be foul territory, but the home plate umpire called it fair.

Shaw was on first when Miller faced Dansby Swanson who also reached on a single to put runners at first and second with no outs. Pete Crow-Armstrong had the third consecutive single, which loaded the bases against Miller and all but assured his scoreless innings streak would come to an end. Nico Hoerner did the damage with a ground ball to second base that resulted in a forceout before Shaw scored to break the streak and make the score 9-6.

Miller still needed two outs to secure the win for the Padres, but he gifted the Cubs a second run against him with a wild pitch that allowed Swanson to score to cut the lead to two runs at 9-7. With a runner on and one out, Miller found his groove and got Michael Busch to groundout and Alex Bregman to strikeout to secure the win for San Diego.

The Padres found themselves in a fight early in the game. After scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning off Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd, they watched Chicago score five unanswered runs and jump on top 5-3. San Diego scored a run in the bottom of the third inning to cut the lead to, 5-4 to set the stage for Nick Castellanos to come through in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Manny Machado hit a double to start the bottom of the fifth inning, which was one of three hits in the game for the Padres’ captain. He was followed by Xander Bogaerts who grounded out and Miguel Andujar who popped out for the second out of the inning. After a passed ball and a Ty France walk. runners were at the corners and France stole second base. Castellanos, who had not been hitting well or playing at all, lined a ball through the middle of the infield which allowed both runners to give the Padres a 7-6 lead that put the home team up for good.

San Diego will try to continue its winning ways and Miller will look to start a new streak in the second game of the series against Chicago at Petco Park at 6:40 p.m.

After a three-hour rain delay, the White Sox and Angels decided to start playing tonight’s game … at 9:40 p.m. CT. Or for this writer and editor, 10:40 p.m. The game ended 35 minutes into Tuesday in Chicago, but the Good Guys somehow pulled off a massive comeback, winning 8-7. Oh, and Mune leads the league in home runs. No big deal!

The first inning brought the pain quickly for the White Sox, as Mike Trout doubled and scored on a sac fly, putting the Angels up, 1-0. The Sox tried to answer with two singles of their own and failed. This would matter even more in the second, after starter Anthony Kay continued to struggle. With one out, Kay plunked Nolan Schanuel, gave up a single to Travis d’Arnaud, an RBI double to Bryce Teodosio and an RBI single to Zach Neto. Teodosio was caught stealing home, but Kay walked Trout to put two on with two outs. The frame ended with a force out to second, but not before Kay hit 45 pitches and the Halos tacked on two runs, making it 3-0. Brendan Hunt of Ted Lasso fame joined Connor McKnight to plug The Movement You Need and call all three pitiful outs as the Sox were retired in order to end the second.

Kay hit another batter, this time with two outs in the top of the third, but escaped further damage with a much-needed strikeout. Once more, no response from the Sox. The bases were loaded in the top of the fourth after a walk and two singles with just one out. Vaughn Grissom sent a ball to the wall, scoring a run, but Tristan Peters was able to make a leaping catch for the second out.

Osvaldo Bido, who was claimed off waivers on April 18, came in to rescue Kay in the fifth, inheriting a 4-0 ballgame, and for the first time in the entire game, there were no runs scored or hit batsmen by a Sox pitcher. Thanks to heads-up base running and a few singles, a run was scored in the bottom of the fifth, as Andrew Benintendi sent Peters home to trim the Angels lead to 4-1. Overall, Bido did a great job as a long reliever, despite giving up a solo home run to Jorge Soler in the top of the seventh.

Sam Antonacci and Chase Meidroth both made their way on base for Peters to bring in a run in the bottom of the seventh. Edgar Quero took a hit to load the bases with no outs, and Benintendi ripped one to right field for a two-run double, fully taking advantage of a dreadful Angels bullpen. Nick Sandlin, who entered halfway through the frame to replace Jack Kochanowicz, was pulled ahead of Munetaka Murakami’s at-bat.

Southpaw Drew Pomeranz stepped in to sap the slugger’s strength, but instead gave up a beautiful home run to give the Good Guys the lead. Murakami officially took over the MLB lead in home runs with 12:

Miguel Vargas kept the rally going with a solo home run right after. Now with seven runs in the seventh inning, the Sox were up, 8-5.

Per Sarah Langs, Munetaka Murakami’s first 12 MLB extra-base hits have been home runs. That extends the longest such streak to start a player’s MLB career since at least 1900 (Murakami had broken a tie with Seattle’s Dae-ho Lee with his homer run on April 22 vs. Arizona). He also tied Will Smith of the Dodgers for third-most home runs hit in a player’s first 29 career games.

The Angels still had some life left, rallying off of reliever Grant Taylor in the ninth. The righty gave up a pair of hits in the ninth, allowing a run to score and cutting the lead to 8-6. The Sox were a strike away from ending the game, but Nolan Schanuel blooped an RBI double between Vargas and Antonacci to make it 8-7, with the lead run at second base. But Bryan Hudson came to the rescue, coaxing a weak ground out from Adam Frazier for the final out, giving the Sox a huge comeback win.

Monday was shaping up to be a forgettable night at Dodger Stadium.

Then, the Dodgers delivered an unforgettable ending in the bottom of the ninth.

Trailing by two runs to the Miami Marlins, the team mounted a three-run rally on the back of quality at-bats, a big swing from Shohei Ohtani and a walk-off hit from Kyle Tucker, who lined a two-run, two-out single to center to lift the Dodgers to a 5-4 win.

“We just know as an offense we’re never out of it,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “We can always look over a baseball, work walks, work at-bats, and it worked tonight.”

That Tucker was the one who produced the game-winning swing made it all the more memorable.

Entering Monday, Tucker was batting just .238. He was less than a week removed from being dropped from second to fourth in the team’s star-studded lineup. And he had been 0-for-4 previously on the night.

“He needed a win,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s been grinding and trying to find some success and some good fortune.”

But by the time he came up, the Dodgers provided the opportunity, having a built a rally against Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks.

It started with leadoff walks from Andy Pages and Dalton Rushing. It was further ignited by a run-scoring ground-rule double from Ohtani, who one-hopped a line drive over the short wall in the right-field corner. After that, Freeman received an intentional free pass while Fairbanks left the game with an injury. Thus, it all came down to Tucker, who with two outs represented the Dodgers’ last chance.

“Guys had phenomenal at-bats right there at the end,” Tucker said. “Just having the opportunity is huge.”

Two pitches later, he made sure to take advantage, connecting on a game-winning hit that prompted his teammates to mob him around first base.

“I do think that a moment like this, even for a player that’s been around a long time, can kind of inspire more confidence in him, which is good thing,” Roberts said. “I think this is the floor of what he’s going to be doing this year, and I think it’s the needle is pointing up.”

Entering the ninth, any comeback bid had felt unlikely.

The Dodgers (20-9) hadn’t scored since Teoscar Hernández’s two-run single in the first. They had squandered that lead on Liam Hicks’ three-run homer against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the fifth. They had left the bases loaded in the seventh. They had gone 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, slipping back into the sluggish form that dogged them for most of last week.

Alas, they quickly rallied, capping one of thier most signature wins early on this season with a first signature moment from their superstar signing.

“Kyle having this huge moment for him and us,” Freeman said with a smile. “Hopefully he can set free and be King Tuck.”

What it means

That, once again, the Dodgers are never out of a game.

Between the second and sixth innings, the team had mustered just one hit. In that time, Yamamoto stumbled in a five-inning, four-run (three-earned) outing while lacking his typical stuff or command. 

However, their superstar lineup means that, as long as they’re within striking distance, they’re always capable of mounting a comeback.

That’s what happened in the ninth, with key walks and big swings giving the team its second walk-off win of the year.

Who’s hot

Hernández is not known for drawing walks. But improved plate discipline has helped him not only earn a string of free bases lately, but also snap out of what had been a couple-week-long slump.

Hernández started his night Monday with a key hit, driving in the game’s first two runs with his opposite-field single in the first inning. After that, he walked twice, marking only the second time this season he has done so.

Following a 14-game stretch from April 7-24 in which he batted .154, Hernández is now 3-for-8 the last three days with four walks and four RBIs, raising his season average to .245.

Who’s not

At the very least, Smith was back in the lineup Monday after missing a couple games with back tightness.

However, he continued a recent slump by not only going hitless in five at-bats, but twice leaving the bases loaded in the seventh (when he broke his bat on an inning-ending grounder) and the ninth (when he struck in the at-bat before Tucker’s walk-off).

That left Smith in a 1-for-18 rut in his last five games, with a three-run homer last Friday representing his only reprieve. His batting average is down to .250 and his OPS is down to .688. Among the club’s regulars, only Tucker has a lower mark in that latter category.

Up next

Ohtani (2-0, 0.38 ERA) will take the mound Tuesday opposite Marlins right-hander Janson Junk (1-2, 3.67 ERA). However, Roberts said Ohtani would only pitch in the game, and not also serve as designated hitter. That is partially because Ohtani is pitching on just five days’ rest for the first time this year, and partially because Wednesday’s series finale the following day is an afternoon start. It marks the second time in his last three pitching starts he will not hit, as well.

They say what goes around comes around, and in a game in which walks played a pivotal part in the Marlins’ handling of Dodgers’ ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the same applied for the Dodgers against closer Pete Fairbanks to set up a comeback win—Kyle Tucker had his first signature moment as a Dodger, delivering a two-out walk-off single to win it 5-4 in the ninth.

For a starter who fought against the tide for what felt like his entire performance, Yamamoto still came ridiculously close to delivering excellent results, even if the execution was nowhere near its finest. Sadly, a mistake against Liam Hicks in one of his last pitches in the fifth inning left the yard for a home run, driving in three runs due to Yamamoto’s issues keeping the Marlins off the bases—over Yamamoto’s five full innings of work, the Marlins earned four walks against the usually incredibly efficient Dodger starter, two of them coming around to score on that Hicks homer.

Other than that three-run shot in the fifth, the only other run the Marlins had scored against Yamamoto came on an error in the third, as Hyeseong Kim failed to throw out Javier Sanoja on a ground ball with the bases loaded—the damage could’ve been bigger, but Yamamoto got the following batter to close the two-out threat. Increasingly defaulting to his trusty splitter as the game went on—with his vast pitching arsenal out of sync—Yamamoto left one in a 1-2 count a bit too high for Hicks, one of the few hitters he had dominated in this one until that point. There’s extra significance in that particular at-bat, as it was the first home run and extra-base hit of any kind against Yamamoto’s splitter in 2026—and only the second home run by a lefty off a Yamamoto splitter since he joined the Dodgers ahead of the 2024 campaign.

While those four runs (3 of them earned) in five innings were well below Yamamoto’s standard, it was hardly a performance that removed the Dodgers from the game. In fact, considering they were facing a struggling Chris Paddack and also the success of their bullpen as of late, the Dodgers had a considerable chance to take this one. Trailing 4-2 by the time Yamamoto threw his last pitch, it took the Dodgers until the last inning to seize it, but eventually they were able to.

Firstly came the frustrating efforts of the seventh inning, when the Dodgers loaded the bases against Andrew Nardi. The southpaw reliever had been brought in with a string of four left-handed hitters up—the primary one being Shohei Ohtani—only to face a couple of pinch-hitters as Alex Call and Miguel Rojas filled in for Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland. The Dodgers got the bags full, but Will Smith couldn’t do anything with it, shattering his bat on a harmless ground ball.

In the ninth, the Dodgers faced veteran closer Pete Fairbanks, and all they wanted was one hitter to reach base in order to give Shohei Ohtani an opportunity as the tying run. The first two hitters walked, Miguel Rojas popped out on a bunt attempt, and the game could’ve been tied if Ohtani’s double hadn’t gone into the stands for a ground-rule double. Fairbanks tried to pitch around Freddie Freeman and eventually had to walk him as well, the last batter he faced, leaving a mess for Tyler Phillips, who came in with the bases loaded and one out and had to defend a one-run lead. Smith’s second failed attempt with the bases loaded—this time striking out—left Miami one out away from Houdini-ing their way to escape this one, but Tucker had other plans and confirmed his outstanding career numbers with the bases loaded, winning the game for the Dodgers.

Game particulars

• Home run—  Liam Hicks (6)
• WP—Jake Eder (1-0): 1 IP, 1 hit
• LP— Pete Fairbanks (0-2): 0.1 IP, 1 hit, 3 runs, 3 walks

Up next

It’s the same start time on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. (PT) as the Dodgers return to action with Shohei Ohtani facing Janson Junk in what is the second-to-last game of this homestand.

A.J. Ewing left a strong impression on Mets officials during spring training, and his fast start this season has already earned him a promotion.

The club announced Monday that Ewing was moved to Triple-A Syracuse.

The 21-year-old outfielder produced a .349/.481/.571 slash line in 18 games for Double-A Binghamton this season.

MLB Pipeline ranks Ewing the No. 3 Mets prospect and No. 85 in all of baseball.

“There’s a lot to like,’’ manager Carlos Mendoza said in March. “I like him as a hitter at the plate. And his defense, he gets great jumps and made some good plays with reads off the bat.”

Ewing projects as a center fielder, a potential need for the Mets in the near future.

He also stole 70 bases last season.

“His ability to give you a really good at-bat from the left side and speed is pretty encouraging,’’ Mendoza said.

The Mets are still deciding on the next step for Kodai Senga, according to a club source, following his ugly performance against the Rockies.

It was a third straight rough outing for Senga.

Senga could be asked to accept a minor league assignment — a move the Mets utilized last year when the right-hander finished the season at Triple-A Syracuse — or slide him to the bullpen.

But the Mets already have two other displaced starters (David Peterson and Sean Manaea) in the bullpen, complicating the equation.

Senga has a 6.94 ERA over his past 14 starts, dating to July 11.

Austin Slater, who was signed by the Mets on Sunday — Tommy Pham was designated for assignment — will be active for Tuesday’s game, the team announced.

Slater, who brings a right-handed bat, had a .470 OPS in 12 games this season with the Marlins before his release.

The Mets also claimed infielder Eric Wagaman from the Twins and optioned him to Syracuse.

The Mets’ 9-19 record is tied for the second-worst start over 28 games in franchise history.

Only the 1981 Mets (who started 8-19-1) were worse.

The 1962, ’64 and ’83 Mets all started 9-19.

Ben Rice and Aaron Judge. 

“That’s a pretty good combo there,” Aaron Boone said. 

That combo has been in the middle of everything early on for the Yankees’ offense, and that was again the case during Monday night’s win over the Rangers. 

After Jack Leiter breezed his way through the first two innings, Rice was able to break through, crushing a first pitch fastball the other way to deep left-center. 

The blast left the bat at a whopping 106.9 mph and traveled 404 feet to the deepest part of the park. 

“Man, that ball was pummeled,” Boone said. 

“I didn’t think it was going to go out so I was running hard, but it was cool to see one go out that way,” Rice added. 

The 27-year-old lefty continued his spectacular start to the season, pushing him into a tie with Judge for second in the league and the team-lead for homer, though it was short-lived. 

Judge regained the advantage over his slugging teammate just five pitches later, as he laced a 3-2 curveball 113 mph over the right-field fence for his 11th homer and the Yanks first back-to-back jacks of the season.

It was Judge’s eighth blasts over his last 15 games. 

“I couldn’t let him catch me,” the captain joked. “I had to make sure I got one after that.”

“Just trying to keep him honest, keep him motivated,” a smiling Rice added. 

Friendly competition aside, the two entered some prestigious company, joining Yogi Berra and Mikey Mantle as the only pair of teammates in franchise history with 10+ homers in the first 29 games of the season.

They are also just the third duo in MLB history to reach that mark during the month of April.   

We already know what Judge is capable of, but having the scorching-hot Rice hitting around him only makes this Yankees lineup even scarier moving forward. 

“Hitting right behind him now, it makes my job easier,” Judge admitted.

“I enjoy hitting in the order with him,” Rice added. “Whether I’m in front of him or behind him, I think there’s different scenarios where either way works, but anytime I could be near him in the lineup is a good one.”

ARLINGTON, Texas — After getting 72 hours to see if his calf could make enough improvement, Giancarlo Stanton still could not avoid the injured list.

The Yankees DH is headed for the 10-day IL after an MRI on Monday revealed a “low-grade” right calf strain, manager Aaron Boone said after a 4-2 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field.

“Doesn’t look too serious, but enough to not want to wait a couple more days,” Boone said. “So we’ll see what we have as the week unfolds.”

The 36-year-old Stanton, who has been plagued by soft-tissue leg injuries in recent years, sustained the strain Friday night in Houston while jogging from first to second base and eventually exited the game after reaching third.

The Yankees are hoping that he came out before the calf injury turned into something more severe, but it will still knock Stanton out at least until next Tuesday.

The Yankees called up Jasson Domínguez earlier on Monday and started him at DH against Rangers righty Jack Leiter.

With Anthony Volpe potentially returning from the IL as soon as Friday, it remains to be seen whether Domínguez will get a longer stretch to fill the DH role while Stanton is sidelined.

Boone said it “could be” just a minimum 10-day stint, but he did not want to put a timetable on it.

Stanton was batting .256 with a .724 OPS, three home runs and 14 RBIs through 24 games.

“It’s [a] huge [loss],” Aaron Judge said. “He’s a big force in the middle of our lineup. Big RBI production. But I’m hoping it’s a small stint. He was able to catch it early hopefully and he’ll be back out there.”

For the second time this year, Aaron Boone had to have a tough conversation with Luis Gil.

Both conversations centered on his demotion to Triple-A.

Another rough outing against the Astros exposed areas where the former AL Rookie of the Year needs work, which he will address in the minors.

“I would say he took it well. I think he was clear-eyed,” Boone said Monday at Globe Life Field. “I feel good about what his focus is going to be going down there. As we’ve tried to get him back to that form that we’ve seen him at, he’s done a lot of the things that have moved the needle in a lot of ways, with his winter program. Physically, he’s in some of the best physical conditioning and strength of his life. He’s a young man still.

“I think the best thing for him right now is to go down there and hopefully continue to work and hopefully string together some starts in a less-pressurized situation that gets him on track to being the guy he can be.”

Left unsaid is that the clock may be running out on Gil’s chances of impacting the rotation this season.

Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole are on the way back from the injured list, both expected to return at some point in May, while the Yankees also have top pitching prospects knocking at the door in Triple-A, including Elmer Rodríguez and Carlos Lagrange.

For now, the Yankees will use someone other than Gil by the time they next need a fifth starter (by May 5 at the latest).

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

It could be Rodríguez, or perhaps a bullpen game started by one of their long men, Ryan Yarbrough or Paul Blackburn.

But it will not be Rodón, who still needs at least two more rehab starts, the next one coming Thursday at Double-A Somerset (with Cole making his third start there Wednesday).

Gil, meanwhile, is headed back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after starting the season there.

He is still trying to rediscover the consistent life on his four-seam fastball, which is not generating close to the whiff rate it once did when he was at his best (9.5 percent this season, 28.5 percent in 2024).

“We’ve seen improvements in some of his work, but it’s about getting the fastball/slider/changeup now all a tick better,” Boone said. “Because once they all get a tick better, then they all help each other. It’s just been a little short there and a little inconsistent.”

Anthony Volpe will play rehab games Tuesday and Wednesday at Double-A Somerset, after which the Yankees will reevaluate his status — with the potential of him rejoining them by Friday’s series opener against the Orioles in The Bronx.

Paul DeJong informed the Yankees that he is planning to opt out of his minor league deal by the end of the month if he is not promoted to the big leagues, The Post’s Jon Heyman reported Monday.

The veteran infielder has hit .213 with a .900 OPS and six home runs in 22 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

But barring an injury at the big league level — especially with Volpe on the verge of returning from the injured list — the Yankees are unlikely to call DeJong up.

Hey, 13-15… that’s… not so bad, right? The past decade or so of Giants Baseball has — except for that one time — basically conditioned us to expect and embrace mediocrity and here we are, paired again with a familiar friend. That’s actually preferrable to the vibes — nay, the objective reality — that followed the first week of the season, when it looked like everyone in the organization was in over his head. The Giants are basically playing a lot closer to expectations now and, well, even if you don’t agree with what those were heading into the season, perhaps you’d admit that it’s a far better place to be than where some other teams are right now.

In the offseason, the New York Mets drastically retooled their roster and the results have been disastrous: 9-19 with a 12-game losing streak. The Phillies basically stood pat and the results have been disastrous: 9-19 with a 10-game losing streak. The Royals tried to build off their nice 2025 with some tinkering at the margins and the results have been disastrous: 11-17 with an 8-game losing streak. The AL pennant winner Blue Jays are 12-15 and the Boston Red Sox, primed to be a top team this season, are just 11-17 and on Sunday they liquidated their entire coaching staff. Finally, the Houston Astros have far too many pitching injuries to list to go with an 11-18 record.

On the other side of surprise ledger, there are the Reds at 18-10 and the Pirates 16-12 while the Padres are not just holding strong in second place but pushing the Dodgers for the top of the NL West with their 18-9 record.

That’s 9 teams that are not where people expected them to be before the season. The Giants, though, are pretty much rolling along according to plan. For the purposes of the postseason race, would you take the Giants against this field going forward?

There are plenty of compelling reasons to answer YES:

• Willy Adames, the notorious slow starter, is off to merely a slow-ish start.
• Rafael Devers will almost certainly hit better than this going forward, even if that might be closer to the 10-20% better than league average range.
• Logan Webb will almost certainly get rolling and solidify that top of the Giants rotation.
• If I list out the bullpen, it suddenly doesn’t sound all that bad: Erik Miller, Keaton Winn, Caleb Kilian, Ryan Walker, Blade Tidwell, Matt Gage. If you want to list R**n B*r*ck* here along with that group, go right ahead, but I will not participate in such perversion.
• Luis Arraez is hitting and fielding like an All-Star second baseman.
• Casey Schmitt is either real, real hot, or excellent trade bait.
• Jung Hoo Lee and Landen Roupp look like the sort of load-bearing players every good team needs. Think the 2026 versions of 2010’s Andres Torres and Jonathan Sanchez.
• Bryce Eldridge hasn’t even been called up yet.
• And, for that matter, neither have any of the starring prospects the Giants have going for them right now.
• The Giants’ pitching staff is much closer to being a top 15 pitching staff than a bottom third, according to the advanced metrics. They’ve got 65 more home games to really goose those numbers and create better luck for stronger W-L results.
• Speaking of W-L records, I had tormented you all with a couple of posts about the history of Giants teams that have started 3-7 or 8-12, and I’m here to deliver slightly better news in that regard: 13-15 teams have usually wound up okay. The 2024 squad was 80-82, sure, but the 2011 team went 86-76 and before that the 1988 team was 83-89. The worst results were in 1979 (71-91) and 1956 (67-87).

But if you remain skeptical of the Giants this season — or, really, just believe that a lot of these surprisingly bad teams will be able to turn things around just as the Giants did already in April — there are perfectly valid data points to support the position.

• They have the fourth-most difficult schedule remaining. The only soft month (on paper, anyway) is in September.
• The top 10 most difficult remaining schedules belong to National League teams, so, it’s going to be a tough summer no matter how you slice it. Even the Rockies might prove a challenge going forward.
• The Giants are essentially one injury away from having a bad bullpen, a bad rotation, or a bad lineup, which puts a lot of pressure on the aforementioned prospect depth to perform at or better than the level of player they’re replacing. Sure, maybe Carson Seymour could be better than Adrian Houser, but how much better? He seems better suited as a reliever. Bryce Eldridge would almost certainly be an upgrade over Rafael Devers today, but over the rest of the season? Not sure about that. Will Bednar or Wilkin Ramos or Sam Hentges or Gregory Santos might be solid Blade Tidwell fill-ins if he gets bumped to the rotation at some point, but it’s iffy.
• Besides, it’s highly unlikely that the field remains in their present state. Obviously, the focus here is on the Giants and who they’re competing with for a postseason spot, but just taking the notion on its face, is it likely that all of the Royals, Blue Jays, Astros or Red Sox will remain big stinking losers over the next five months? Doubtful. At least a couple of those teams will turn things around (Boston is already 2-0 with their new coaching staff). It seems unlikely that the Mets and Phillies turn around their seasons, but you know, stranger things have happened. Although, seriously, 9-19s in the first 28 games has happened 118 times in MLB history and only 7 times has one of those teams had a winning season:
  • 1925 Detroit Tigers: 81-73-2
  • 2001 Chicago White Sox: 83-79
  • 1996 Boston Red Sox: 85-77
  • 2024 Houston Astros: 88-73 (Division Champ)
  • 1974 Pittsburgh Pirates: 88-74 (Division Champ)
  • 1965 Pittsburgh Pirates: 90-72
  • 1914 Boston Braves: 94-59-5 (Won World Series)
• Then there are the teams right there in the middle with the Giants: will the Marlins be spoilers all year long? How about the Rockies? Is the NL Central for real? All five teams have winning records. That includes the perennial losers the Pittsburgh Pirates along with the rebuilding St. Louis Cardinals.

It’s not that the field is wide open so much that there’s a lot more uncertainty in the system than we might’ve expected even at this point in the season. Last year on this exact date, the Mets were 19-9 and the Giants were leading the NL West at 19-10. Only 2 of the 5 NL Central teams had winning records. And, by the way, the Brewers, who racked up the most wins last season, were just 14-15 (they’re 14-13 today)

So, it’s still early, but the Giants have shown a bit more gumption and perseverance than some other teams with even greater expectations. The Giants have played their way back into a decent spot for competing over the next five months. They still don’t have the most talented bunch when compared to a lot of teams out there, though, so, given that, if you had to make a final decision today, would you rather be in a position of one of the other teams (who aren’t the Dodgers, Yankees, or Cubs) or roll the dice and see if the Giants really have righted the ship?

While the Yankees’ Monday night game in Texas was never a blowout, much of it felt like it was trending towards a fairly comfortable Bombers win. Ben Rice and Aaron Judge continued to be stalwarts in the Yankees’ lineup, each going deep to help build up a lead. Meanwhile on the mound, starter Max Fried was pretty stellar. He ended up going six innings, keeping the Rangers off the board, having allowed four hits and two walks. One of the runners he allowed even ended up the victim of one of his trademark pickoffs.

However, after Fried departed, the bullpen let things get way too close for comfort, as is they tend to do. In both the eighth and ninth innings, Texas brought the tying run to the plate. In the ninth, they even had the winning run up.

Eventually though, the bullpen got the required outs, as the Yankees picked up yet another victory on their road trip, downing the Rangers 4-2.

After getting kept off the board in the first two innings, it seemed like the Yankees had missed a chance in the third when José Caballero got caught trying to steal second for the second out of the inning. However, Trent Grisham kept the inning alive with a single that deflected off pitcher Jack Leiter and to safety. Rice and Judge then went back to back, drawing first blood on the game.

Rice’s blast tied Judge for the team lead with 10, and amusingly, the dead heat lasted only a couple moments because Judge followed with his own clout.

The following inning Jazz Chisholm Jr. got in on the action and continued his recent run with another homer.

Fried exited after six innings, as the Yankees went to the bullpen to start the seventh. That was also where the shutout ended. Camilo Doval came in and allowed a one-out solo home run to Joc Pederson for Texas’ first run of the game.

Tim Hill came in for the eighth and ran into some trouble. He issued walks to Ezequiel Duran and Josh Jung, allowing the Rangers to bring the tying run to the plate. Said tying run came up in the form of Corey Seager, who Hill got to ground out, but it was a bit of a hot shot.

With David Bednar on the hill, the ninth then got off to another scary start. Jake Burger reached on what was ruled a single to start the inning, after Chisholm got to a grounder but didn’t have much of a play on and threw wide. Pederson then seemingly also reached in not unsimilar circumstances, but Chisholm successfully threw to first on that play and on review, it turned out that the throw beat Pederson to the bag.

Bednar than came back and struck out Kyle Higashioka, but things got even closer after that.

After Josh Smith hit yet another grounder to Chisholm, the second baseman committed an error after booting it. Alejandro Osuna came up next and dinked a single into center. That scored one run and brought the potential winning run to the plate. Bednar finally managed to finish things off there, inducing a grounder to short that José Caballero safely fielded and threw to second for the final out.

With that, the Yankees bounced back from their Sunday loss and have now won nine of their last ten. They’ll try to keep that going tomorrow, when the Yankees and Rangers will continue their series tomorrow night at 8:05 pm ET. Cam Schlittler and Jacob deGrom are expected to be the starters for that one.

Box Score

ARLINGTON, Texas — Aaron Judge is no stranger to showing up next to the all-time greats in the Yankees record book.

Now he is bringing Ben Rice with him.

Rice and Judge crushed back-to-back homers in the third inning Monday night, joining select Yankee company and providing the jet fuel for a 4-2 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field.

With Rice’s 10th home run of the year and Judge’s 11th, they became only the second pair of Yankees teammates to each hit 10-plus home runs in the team’s first 29 games of a season, according to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.

The other was Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle in 1956.

“I’m glad I don’t have to face them, let’s just put it that way,” said Max Fried, who delivered six more shutout innings. “Those are two of the best hitters in the game.”

Jazz Chisholm Jr. also homered, continuing to heat up, as the Yankees (19-10) won for the ninth time in their past 10 games.

Judge has had a few different wingmen over the years, including Giancarlo Stanton and Juan Soto, but now Rice looks like the latest as the two sluggers have been on a tear to start the season — their combined 21 home runs more than the Giants, Brewers, Mets and Red Sox each have as a team.

Judge’s long ball was just part of his big night, as he added a pair of doubles and was hit by a pitch, raising his OPS to 1.010 — which still trails Rice’s 1.191, both in the top four of the majors.

“Tremendous,” manager Aaron Boone said of the duo. “Obviously Benny’s off to an amazing start. Judgey’s a ho-hum 11 homers already. Maybe his best game of at-bats tonight, where he’s on all four times, stings two doubles, smokes the homer. It’s a pretty good combo there.”

At least for a few minutes, Rice tied Judge for the team lead in homers when he crushed a two-run shot off Jack Leiter in the third inning.

The first baseman went the other way for a 404-foot blast, showing impressive opposite-field power for his sixth home run in his past 11 games.

Judge then one-upped Rice and clobbered a 414-footer at 113 mph off the bat, landing right around where his record-setting 62nd home run did in left field here in 2022.

“Man, [Rice’s] ball was pummeled,” Boone said. “This is a ballpark, they’ll tell you, it doesn’t yield a lot of home runs. To hit a line drive into the bullpen the other way, impressive. The only thing more impressive was the [113] breaking ball that Judgey rifled into the seats right after him.

“That was a little bit of a, ‘Hold [my] beer’ moment.”

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

Rice said that after Judge got back to the dugout, the three-time AL MVP joked, “I’m not going to let Benny catch me.”

“So just trying to keep him honest, keep him motivated,” Rice said with a grin. “He’s getting a little complacent, so.”

Judge said he has been most impressed by the consistency of Rice’s at-bats.

“It’s must-watch TV at this point,” Judge said. “Benny Rice has been our sparkplug all year and he’s going to continue to do that.”

An inning later, Chisholm joined the home run parade, swatting his third in the past five games — after going 23 games without one to start the year — to put the Yankees ahead 4-0, marking the third time in the last four games that the Yankees hit at least three home runs.

That was plenty of support for Fried, who did not allow a run for the fourth time in seven starts this season.

Coming off eight shutout innings against the Red Sox, Fried turned in six scoreless frames against the Rangers (14-15) in which he scattered four singles and two walks while striking out five.

He also became the fourth straight Yankees starter to record a pickoff, which has only been done one other time in franchise history.

“We worked really hard on it in spring training and we’ve been executing well so far,” Fried said. “Really proud of them and I know they’ve been taking it very seriously.”

Rays sideline reporter Ryan Bass is being praised for stepping in to brighten a young Guardians fan’s night after she had a home run ball wrestled away from her by a grown man in an embarrassing display during Monday’s game against Cleveland.

The man eventually gave the ball back to the young girl several innings later, Nikki DeVoe, the girl’s mother, revealed in a Facebook post late Monday night.

The moment was captured by the Rays broadcast during the bottom of the fifth inning after the Guardians’ Daniel Schneemann hit a two-run home run to right field at Progressive Field.

The adult fan bobbled the catch of the home run, and it landed right near a young girl, who was coming down the steps to try and get the souvenir — leading the man to wrestle the ball away from her while it was on the ground. 

After a grown man wrestles a HR ball away from a little girl, @Ry_Bass is there to make the situation right.

to my guy. pic.twitter.com/jan6BDmWfG

— Evan Closky (@ECloskyWTSP) April 27, 2026

The scene left Rays broadcasters Andrew Freed and Brian Anderson stunned. 

One of the broadcasters, while on air, implored, “Give that ball back.”

That’s when Bass sprang into action to make the sad situation a bit better, later appearing in the outfield stands with a baseball for the girl — bringing a smile to her face before she began to cry after Bass walked away. 

“Just exercising all of that bonus girl dad energy,” Bass posted on X while re-sharing a clip of the exchange. 

He appeared to have also gone back and taken a photo with the young Guardians fan, her mom and her brother, as the two siblings smiled and each held up baseballs. 

“Baseball is the best! What a sweet little family,” he wrote on social media.

The Rays broadcast reported seeing the girl’s brother attempt to go up to the man and ask for the ball back for his sister, and DeVore later confirmed in the social media post that it indeed took place.

“You know my son went to ask him for the ball, which was so brave,” she wrote in the post.

DeVore used the post to express her profound gratitude for the kindness that she and her family received during the ordeal.

In particular, she thanked Bass.

“I just have to say thank you to Tampa for broadcasting it, when Cleveland broadcast cut to puppies rather than show the man stealing the ball from a child,” she wrote. “child. I cannot thank Ryan and Tampa enough for making things right. Thank you all for looking out for ALL young baseball fans. It is top notch sportsmanship. My daughter and I cried happy tears. I am so proud of my kids for how they handled tonight, and so proud of Tampa and its fans for standing up for my child.

“The pressure resulted in the man giving her the home run ball back 4-5 innings later towards the end of the game. It wasn’t the same but we appreciated him doing the right thing. But we appreciate all of you even more.”

The incident on Monday over the ball is the first viral moment of such magnitude this baseball season.

Last season, an unidentified woman went viral after she berated a father for a Harrison Bader home run ball that he was giving to his son during a Phillies-Marlins game in Miami on Sept. 5. 

The Rays went on to win the game 3-2.

The Yankees will officially be without Giancarlo Stanton for the next few games. 

The slugger is hitting the IL with a low-grade calf strain, Aaron Boone announced following Monday's win. 

Boone had said pregame that the team wasn't sure if Stanton would have to be forced to the sidelines, as they were still awaiting results from an MRI on that right calf. 

Those tests appear to have confirmed the prognosis, and he'll now be down at least 10 days. 

Boone wasn't ready to put an exact timeline on a potential return to the lineup just yet, but he did share that the team is optimistic Stanton shouldn't miss too much time.  

"Doesn't look too serious, but enough to to not want to wait a couple more days," he said. "We'll see what we have as the week unfolds -- hopefully not too long, but we'll see."

For now, recently recalled youngster Jasson Dominguez figures to have a massive opportunity to show he deserves to stick back up with the big-league club. 

Dominguez has been on-fire to start the season down in Triple-A, and he carried over that success on Monday, picking up a knock in four at-bats in his first game back in the majors. 

He's set to start the next two games in Texas with righties on the mound, then Boone will take it from there. 

While Dominguez served as the DH on Monday, the skipper expects to get him some outfield reps during the week.

"You call up a guy like Dominguez who can DH, play some outfield for us, it's gonna be huge," Aaron Judge said. "He's been raking in Triple-A. He's a guy who upset not making the team out of camp, and I think he's gonna show up here ready to prove some people wrong and kind of send a message, so I'm excited about it."