SURPRISE, AZ - FEBRUARY 17: Peyton Gray #75 of the Texas Rangers poses for a photo during the Texas Rangers photo day at Surprise Stadium on Tuesday, February 17, 2026 in Surprise, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Texas Rangers relief pitcher Robert Garcia has been placed on the 15 day injured list retroactive to April 20, the team announced today. To take his place on the active roster, the team has purchased the contract of pitcher Peyton Gray from AAA Round Rock. To make room for Gray on the 40 man roster, the Rangers have designated catcher Willie MacIver for assignment.
In addition, the team announced that Carter Baumler, currently on the injured list, is beginning a rehab assignment with Round Rock.
Garcia last pitched on April 16 — a week ago. He has been experiencing shoulder soreness, and the Rangers had held off on making on i.l. move as they felt there was a decent chance he would be recovered in time to avoid an i.l. stint. However, some combination of his shoulder not improving and the Rangers needing a fresh arm in the pen has resulted in his being put on the injured list now.
Gray, a 30 year old righthander, has never pitched in the major leagues. After being released by the Kansas City Royals in 2021, he pitched for Milwaukee in the independent American Association in 2022 and 2023, and pitched in the Mexican Pacific Winter League in 2023-24 and 2024-25. He spent the 2025 since with the Rangers, putting up a 3.58 ERA in 73 innings over 45 appearances between Frisco and (mostly) Round Rock.
Gray had an impressive camp this spring, and in 12.2 innings over seven appearances for Round Rock this year, he has yet to allow a run, and has 15 Ks against two walks.
MacIver was claimed on waivers by the Rangers over the winter, and has stuck around on the 40 man roster as a third catcher, in case one of the two major league catchers got injured.
As for Baumler, as a Rule 5 pick, I imagine the Rangers will not rush him on his rehab assignment, and so long as help in the majors isn’t needed, he’ll get several appearances in the minors on this assignment.
After exiting Wednesday's win over the Minnesota Twins early with left calf tightness, the Mets are placing star shortstop Francisco Lindor on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain.
In a corresponding move, New York is recalling Ronny Mauricio from Triple-A Syracuse.
Additionally, RHP Christian Scott is being recalled and will start Thursday's game; RHP Austin Warren was optioned to Triple-A following last night's game.
Lindor appeared to grimace while rounding third base in the fourth inning on Wednesday before sliding safely feet first into home plate. The shortstop headed straight to the tunnel and did not return to the field for the top of the fifth inning, as Bo Bichette moved to shortstop and Brett Baty entered to play third base.
Manager Carlos Mendoza spoke with reporters Thursday ahead of the game to discuss Lindor's injury, saying that the team will be without him "for a while."
"We still have multiple people looking at the imaging and the MRI and all that. We do know, obviously there's the injury there, and he's going to be down for quite a bit here," Mendoza said. "I don't think we are anticipating something like, we knew right away with Juan [Soto] that it was kind of like the best-case scenario and it was going to be on the short side of things. I don't think we're dealing with the same thing here."
Mendoza added: "It's hard to put a timetable. Because again, we got to wait. We do know that he's going to be down for a while."
The manager was also asked what the plan is defensively -- either keeping Bichette at third and having Mauricio at shortstop, or having Bichette to move back to his old position in some capacity. He reiterated the loose plan mentioned after Wednesday's game, saying they will keep Bichette at third and have Mauricio take over as the starting shortstop.
"We could, but Mauricio is going to get an opportunity here to play," Mendoza said. "But yeah, depending on matchups, off days for some of the guys, Bo will slide over at times. But in the meantime, Mauricio is going to get a majority of the opportunities here at shortstop."
Mendoza then made it clear Mauricio could start against left-handed pitching going forward, with the occasional matchup change when needed. Mauricio owns a career .134 batting average against left-handers, going 11-for-82 over 42 games.
"He'll get some chances there," Mendoza said. "I'm going to pick what we consider good matchups for him from that side of the plate. But yeah, he'll start against lefties. But I will also not hesitate, if the game's on the line and it's a tough left-on-right matchup there and I have a better option on the bench, I'll probably shoot that bullet if I feel like we need to.
"I feel like it'll be case-by-case, but he'll face lefties."
It had been another slow start to the season for Lindor, but the injury comes at a time when it looked like he was turning a corner. Over his last seven games, Lindor was slashing .360/.386/.640 with two home runs, five RBI, a walk, and a stolen base. Through 24 games overall, Lindor has a .669 OPS, with all his home runs and RBI coming in the last seven games.
Mauricio, who has played in just two big league games this season (including his pinch-hit walk-off on April 7), is slashing .293/.349/.638 with a .987 OPS across 15 games in Triple-A. The 25-year-old is coming off his best game of the season on April 21, when he smashed three home runs to bring his season total to six and his RBI total to 13.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 22: Francisco Lindor #12 of the New York Mets slides home past Victor Caratini #37 of the Minnesota Twins for a run in the fourth inning at Citi Field on April 22, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Mets have placed Francisco Lindor on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain, the team has announced. This news was expected after Lindor looked hobbled running the bases and scoring on a double by Francisco Alvarez in the fourth inning of last night’s game and subsequently did not return to the field in the fifth due to tightness in his calf. Lindor received an MRI today, which revealed a strain that is worse than the one Juan Soto suffered (also in his calf) that sidelined him for 15 games. Lindor is “going to be down a while,” according to manager Carlos Mendoza. There is currently no timetable for his return, but the Mets expect him to miss significant time.
This news is a huge blow to the Mets, who just got Juan Soto back and halted their 12-game losing streak. Though Lindor got off to his usual slow start in April which this year included some mental lapses in the field, he had just been heating up prior to the injury, putting up a 154 wRC+ over the past nine games with two home runs, four runs scored, and five RBIs, hitting lower in the order in Soto’s absence.
Ronny Mauricio has been called up from Triple-A Syracuse to take Lindor’s spot on the roster and is starting at shortstop in tonight’s series finale against the Twins at Citi Field. Mauricio had been up with the big league squad briefly when Soto first went on the injured list and went 1-for-4 with the one hit being his walk-off knock on April 7, which turned out to be the Mets’ last win before last night. While Lindor is sidelined, the Mets could opt to use Bo Bichette at his natural shortstop position, as they did in last night’s game after Lindor’s early exit, but Carlos Mendoza indicated that Mauricio is going to get the chance to prove himself as the team’s every day shortstop.
The Mets also made another roster move prior to tonight’s game, optioning Austin Warren to Triple-A Syracuse to make room on the roster for Christian Scott, who will make his season debut tonight. Warren stopped the bleeding after Devin Williams’ meltdown on Tuesday by striking out three straight batters. Though it wasn’t enough to save the Mets from defeat, it’s unfortunate that this heroic effort was rewarded with a demotion, but such is the life of an optionable reliever.
Tonight will be Scott’s first appearance for the Mets since undergoing hybrid Tommy John surgery with an internal brace in September of 2024 which cost him the entire 2025 season. Scott got off to a rough start in Triple-A Syracuse, but has been much better lately and is throwing even harder than he did prior to the UCL injury. Scott started nine games for the Mets in 2024 and pitched to a 4.56 ERA in 47 1/3 innings with 39 strikeouts and 12 walks. The Mets plan to keep a five-man rotation for now with David Peterson remaining in the bullpen.
Cam Schlittler is in many ways fulfilling a childhood dream by pitching in Fenway Park. The twist is that he hopes to turn it into a nightmare for the home team.
Schlittler couldn't be much more Boston - he's still a Bruins fan, and his dad is the police chief of Needham, a town roughly halfway between Walpole and Fenway Park. Yet Schlittler's epic eight shutout innings and 12 strikeouts in the decisive Game 3 of the Yankees-Red Sox 2025 wild card series changed the dynamic between player and hometown team forever.
To the point Schlittler might want to check that no one slipped anything into his Dunkies when he goes back home.
Schlittler said this week he's received death threats in advance of his Fenway start, continuing a pattern that Schlittler said began before the wild card game, when he said many Red Sox fans got out of pocket in their trash talking before wild card Game 3.
Schlittler has only raised his profile since that postseason meeting. He's posted a 1.95 ERA in his first five starts and in striking out 36 and walking just three, has the best strikeout-walk ratio in the major leagues. Schlittler has not given up a home run in 27 2/3 innings and leads the majors in fielding independent pitching.
He will be opposed by Red Sox rookie left-hander Payton Tolle.
BOSTON — “I think it’s going to be loud, and I’m really looking forward to it," said Schlittler, anticipating the ire of 30,000 denizens of Red Sox Nation.
“Things definitely get a little more intense when we play Boston," said Schlittler, who has already dealt with on-line threats against himself and his family ahead of this series, as first reported by the New York Post.
“Been dealing with that stuff for six months now,’’ said Schlittler, who is “not overly concerned’’ about it. “Just looking forward to going out there Thursday.’’
DENVER, COLORADO - APRIL 23: Starting pitcher Ryan Feltner #18 of the Colorado Rockies throws against the San Diego Padres in the first inning at Coors Field on April 23, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) | Getty Images
UPDATE 2:23pm MT: The Rockies broadcast just announced that Feltner left with right triceps tightness, and Castro left with right knee soreness.
Here’s a tweet confirmation from Thomas Harding:
#Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner left today's game after two innings with right triceps tightness. 2B Willi Castro left after three innings with right knee soreness.
UPDATE 2:18pm MT: 2B Willi Castro also exited the game in the fourth inning for unknown reasons. Prior to leaving the game, Castro had one walk and one strikeout.
Purple Row will continue to provide updates as we receive them.
Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Ryan Feltner left today’s game against the San Diego Padres following the end of the second inning.
He threw 40 pitches, 25 for strikes while allowing two hits and two runs (both earned). He also struck out three and walked one.
Zach Agnos entered the third inning in relief.
The reasons for Feltner leaving the game are not known at this time, but Purple Row will continue to follow this developing story.
TAMPA, FL - FEBRUARY 21: Pitching Coach, Matt Blake and Preston Claiborne of the New York Yankees talk before the game against the Detroit Tigers at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 21, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The year is 1997. Liván Hernández takes the mound for the Marlins in Game 5 of the NLCS against the Braves. Little did the Braves, the fans in attendance, and those tuning in know that they were about to witness one of the most outrageous displays of home plate umpiring in MLB history.
Granted, Greg Maddux also benefitted from this… liberal interpretation of the strike zone, but it really felt like Eric Gregg was on a one-man mission to get home ahead of the traffic.
It’s the era of the sinker. For an entire generation of baseball players and fans, this is pretty close to the norm. Before there were umpire audit accounts and later the ABS system, pitchers learned to weaponize the East-West strike zones of umpires around the league. They knew they could steal strikes often as much as a half-foot off the plate on either side, so horizontally running pitches reigned supreme.
Fast forward almost 30 years and we’ve entered a new age. It actually started on the hitting side with the launch angle revolution, hitters increasing the angles of their swings to lift all those pesky sinkers low in the zone. This precipitated a reaction from pitchers, starting with former Astros pitching coach Brent Strom, the paradigm shifted to high-spinning four-seamers whose late riding life at the top of the zone effectively neutralized the proliferation of steep swings. Aided by advances in pitch tracking and biomechanic technology and the strike zone going from East-West to North-South (as well as some sticky foreign substances), we saw this transition from sinker to four-seamer take place almost overnight.
As with many things in life, patterns and trends emerge and then ebb away in cycles. Now it appears that we’re reaching — if not an end — then at least an inflection point in this cycle of fastball usage, and the Yankees are at the forefront of the reemergence of the sinker.
There are several factors which I feel are influencing the current movement back toward the sinker. The league-wide crackdown on Spider Tack and other foreign substances in 2021 was the catalyst, many pitchers finding themselves robbed of the RPMs and induced vertical movement that were making their four-seamers so unhittable. Over the following couple years, research into the effects of seam-shifted wake and its ability to increase the downward movement of pitches, particularly the sinker, provided further impetus for pitchers to dust off their old sinkers and tinker with seam orientation until they found the perfect combination to achieve maximal downward break.
Then in 2024 and 2025, much of the research in the pitching realm zeroed in on the benefits of starting pitchers throwing multiple different types of fastball. On the surface, it makes intuitive sense that having a more expansive arsenal gives you more weapons to make it deeper into games. Digging a litter farther, we now understand how the divergent movement profiles of four-seamers, sinkers, and cutters are interacting to fool hitters. All three types of fastball look the same coming out of the pitcher’s hand, meaning three pitches that look exactly the same can end up in three different locations once they get to home. The best hitters are able to use certain cues to identify pitch type out of the hand — think the dot made by the rotating seams of a slider, or the upward pop of a curveball out of the pitcher’s hand — but with fastballs it is almost impossible to discern four-seamer from sinker from cutter.
Starting in the second-half of 2024, I’ve been mulling over how I want to explore this topic with our readers. Now, I am very excited to use this as the introduction for a series that I’m really looking forward to jumping in to. Over the course of the season, I would like to pick out individual Yankees pitchers who have not only increased their sinker usage, but also improved the raw characteristics (velo, movement, etc.), especially those pitchers who’ve recently joined the Yankees and saw immediate changes to their sinker deployment. Matt Blake, Sam Briend, and the rest of the Yankees pitching department are constantly looking for ways to innovate, and I am intrigued to learn about their process in disseminating the sinker across pretty much the entire Yankees pitching room. From Max Fried to Carlos Rodón to Cam Schlittler and many others, I can’t wait to share what I’ve observed with all of you, so stay tuned!
Apr 22, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson (20) celebrates as he rounds first base after hitting a two-run home run against the Milwaukee Brewers in the fourth inning at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
It’s our second early game of the week, but thankfully this one wasn’t so early we needed coffee to get through it. The Tigers were hoping to come away with a series win, and with Tarik Skubal on the mound, that could only help their case. They had a great game on Wednesday night, and just needed to ride that high into today. They’d be facing off against Brandon Sproat for the Brewers.
In expected Tarik Skubal fashion, he got the Brewers out in order in the first. In the home half, Kevin McGonigle hit a leadoff double. On two subsequent outs, McGonigle was able to advance to third, then a Riley Greene home run brought two runs in. Great way to get the game going. Dillon Dingler singled as well, but the Tigers would need to settle for just the two runs.
Skubal was dialled in, getting another 1-2-3 inning in the second. The Tigers, however, did the same in the bottom of the inning, keeping the game moving at a good clip. Speaking of a good clip, the same thing happened in the third, with both teams going quickly through the order.
While Skubal managed to get through the first eleven Brewers in order, he couldn’t get a fourth shutout inning in a row. With two outs, William Contreras doubled, followed by a Gary Sanchez double to bring in the first Brewers run of the game. In the home half, Riley Greene got a leadoff walk, but one out later he was eliminated in a force out off the bat of Kerry Carpenter. One more out followed to end the inning with one man left on the bases.
Skubal was clearly annoyed with his fumble in the fourth, because he turned around in the fifth to just devastate the Brewers in another 1-2-3 outing. With one out in the home half, Javier Baez singled. He was probably hoping to avoid a repeat of the running drills he had to do in a similar situation last night. It turned out worse as McGonigle hit a long fly out and Baez got tagged out at first for a truly odd double play to end the inning.
In the sixth, the Brewers were back at their nonsense, with David Hamilton getting on with a soft bunt. Then they had the audacity to do it again, this one down the first base line by Brandon Lockridge, putting two on safely. A force out off the bat of Brice Turang got Lockridge out at second, but left men at the corners. A double play was exactly what the team needed, and that’s exactly what they got. Skubal induced a ground ball on a 3-0 count and the inning was suddenly done, the threat over. With one out in the home half, Colt Keith walked, and that was it for Sproat, who was replaced by Aaron Ashby. Riley Greene singled, sending Keith to third, then Dingler hit into a force out, eliminating Greene at first, but scoring Keith to give the Tigers another run. Matt Vierling came out to pinch-hit and drew a walk. The Brewers went back to their bullpen, this time for Grant Anderson, who came out and got the final out of the inning.
The Brewers opened the seventh with back-to-back singles from Gary Sanchez and Luis Matos. A Blake Perkins double right to the warning track brought in two runs and tied the game up at 3-3 after a lengthy battle against Skubal. That was it for Skubal, who went 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K on 94 pitches. The game started incredibly strong for him, save one rough inning. It wasn’t until the seventh that he really started to falter, and it’s a shame to see his game end that way. Tyler Holton came out in relief. After getting the first out of the inning, Holton gave up a single to Joey Ortiz. A David Hamilton single then brought one more run in to break up the tie and give the Brewers the lead. Lockridge walked, the first Brewers walk of the game, loading the bases with still just the one out. It was a bad situation for the Tigers until a rare 3-2-2 double play ended the inning. Gotta love it.
Trevor Megill was next out of the Brewers pen in the bottom of the seventh. He got the Tigers out in order on three consecutive groundouts.
Burch Smith came out for the Tigers in the top of the eighth making his Tigers debut. What the team needed was a clean inning, and Smith gave them just that, getting the Brewers out in order. Angel Zerpa was the new Brewers pitcher, and with one out, Jahmai Jones took him yard, hitting a home run to left center. Two outs followed but the Tigers had tied things up again.
Sal Frelick singled to start the ninth. Then, a Rengifo bunt (these guys and their bunts, I swear), saw him out at first but got Frelick to second. Ortiz walked, and Smith was replaced by Brant Hurter. Hurter came in and induced a double play to end the inning. The Tigers headed into the bottom of the ninth hoping to eke out a win and avoid extra innings. Abner Uribe was in for the Brewers. And with one out, last night’s home run hero Spencer Torkelson did it again with a walk-off home run to wrap up the series and game with a win.
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 23: JR Ritchie #56 of the Atlanta Braves pitches to José Tena #8 (not pictured) of the Washington Nationals during the first inning of his major league debut at Nationals Park on April 23, 2026 in Washington, DC. Ritchie struck out Tena for his first career strike out. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) | Getty Images
JR Ritchie’s major league debut couldn’t have started much worse.
He gave up a home run on very his first pitch.
From there, though, he certainly looked like he belonged.
The 2022 first-round pick, called up to close out the Braves’ road trip in Washington Thursday afternoon, didn’t just excel in his debut. He set the tone in Atlanta’s 7-2 win over the Nationals, which clinched the team’s fifth straight series win and completed a 6-1 road trip.
Atlanta’s No. 2 prospect bounced back from the challenging first pitch to get through an efficient seven innings on 89 pitches, allowing two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. His seven strikeouts are tied for the third-most by a starter in his debut in franchise history, behind only David Hale (2013), Bob Dresser (1902) and Kenshin Kawakami (2009).
He’s the first pitcher in franchise history to throw seven-plus innings, allow no more than two runs and strike out seven batters in his major league debut.
JR Ritchie today became the first pitcher in franchise history to complete at least 7.0 innings while allowing no more than two runs and striking out at least seven in his major league debut. pic.twitter.com/4LBrBgX3We
Ritchie’s two walks came in the final innings. His two runs allowed came on solo homers, a middle-middle fastball to Wood and a changeup below the zone which CJ Abrams still managed to power out.
The debutant got an assist from Washington in the second inning, when the Nats put on an ill-advised delayed steal to run their way out of an inning when it had runners on the corners. From there, Ritchie didn’t face much more traffic, never again allowing multiple baserunners at the same time.
It wound up being quite important that Ritchie settled in so well as Atlanta’s offense was largely held down by Washington starter Cade Cavalli.
The majority of their damage against him came in a four-hit fourth which Matt Olson and Austin Riley started with back-to-back doubles. The pair scored on an Ozzie Albies sacrifice fly and a Michael Harris II RBI single, respectively, to stake Atlanta to a 2-1 lead.
Cavalli finished his first start against the Braves allowing two runs on seven hits with no walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts.
Once the starter was out, though, Atlanta got to Washington’s bullpen. After failing to score with two in scoring position and one out in the six, the Braves broke a 2-2 deadlock with a four-run seventh to take control.
After a leadoff strikeout, Drake Baldwin walked, Olson singled and Riley walked to load the bases. Baldwin gave the Braves the lead when he scored on a wild first pitch from Gus Varland. The next pitch was hit to right by Albies for a two-run single to make it 5-2.
Harris capped the big inning with an RBI double to right-center to cap off a 3-for-4 day at the plate. However, he was removed from the game after the inning with what the Braves called left quad tightness in a brutal bit of timing given the torrid run he’s been on at the plate.
For good measure, Albies added a run in the top of the ninth on a solo homer, his fifth of the season. Albies finished the day 3-for-4 as well with four RBIs and two runs.
The Braves bullpen again protected a lead with minimal stress. Dylan Lee struck out two in a 1-2-3 eighth and Carlos Carrasco, also called up on Thursday, delivered a 1-2-3 ninth in his season debut.
The Braves return home and kick off their second straight weekend series against the Phillies, this time at home, Friday night.
The New York Mets placed shortstop Francisco Lindor on the 10-day injured list with a calf injury, the team announced.
Lindor was injured during the fourth inning of Wednesday's game against the Minnesota Twins at Citi Field, when he rounded third base and slid into home safe on Francisco Alvarez's RBI double. He was removed from the game and did not return, as New York broke a 12-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory.
Lindor, who is batting .226 with two home runs and 5 RBI, was starting to heat up at the plate, with seven hits in his last 17 at-bats before Wednesday's game.
He was injured in the same game as Juan Soto returned from his own stint on the injured list with a right calf strain. Soto missed 15 games, and the Mets went 3-12 in his absence.
Taking Lindor's place on the roster is infielder Ronny Mauricio, who was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. Mauricio is in tonight's lineup against Minnesota and will bat 8th in the lineup.
Entering tonight's series finale against the Twins, the Mets are 8-16, tied for the worst record in the National League.
During their 12-game losing streak, New York hit .161 with runners in scoring position, and have scored a pitiful 2.67 runs per game since April 3.
Their next six games in the homestand after the Minnesota series are against the Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals, who are a combined 21-30 (.412)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 21: Kyle Tucker #23 of the Los Angeles Dodgers slides to stop a ball hit by Jung Hoo Lee #51 of the San Francisco Giants in the first inning at Oracle Park on April 21, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Dodgers offense has nowhere to go but up in this series.
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 17: Logan Webb #62 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on April 17, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The San Francisco Giants wrap up this three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers this afternoon from Oracle Park.
Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Logan Webb, who enters today’s game with a 5.10 ERA, 3.41 FIP, with 27 strikeouts to 11 walks in 30 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 10-5 win over the Washington Nationals on Friday, in which he allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits with six strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
He’ll be facing off against Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who enters today’s game with a 3.24 ERA, 2.58 FIP, with 29 strikeouts to six walks in 25 innings pitched. His last start was in the Dodgers’ 7-1 win over the Colorado Rockies on Friday, in which he allowed one run on two hits with seven strikeouts and two walks in seven innings.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 10: Seattle Mariners mascot Mariners Moose waves a flag after the game against the Detroit Tigers at T-Mobile Park on October 10, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Ben VanHouten/Seattle Mariners/Getty Images) | Getty Images
If you are a MLB team, you’ll have fallow stretches. Let’s consider the 2025 season:
The World Series winning Los Angeles Dodgers went 10-14 in the month of July, but still secured their division with a 93-69 record en route to MLB’s first repeat title winner in 25 years.
April 10-May 7 saw the Toronto Blue Jays go 8-15, en route to a 94-68 record, the AL East crown, and American League Pennant.
From June 30-August 5, the 94-68 New York Yankees went 12-19, a .387 win percentage.
MLB’s best regular season club, the Milwaukee Brewers, were 97-65 overall but went 8-14 from April 23-May 17th.
Twice, the 96-66 Philadelphia Phillies fell 5.0 games back in the NL West in a year they’d wear its crown by 13 games. The first time came after a five-game losing streak including a sweep at the hands of the Mets, part of a 5-10 stretch from April 10-25th. The second was more dire, a 2-10 run from May 29th thru June 10th which saw them swept by the Brewers and their intrastate competitors in Pittsburgh. They dropped 7.0 games from their original standing in the divisional race in under two weeks.
If that final stretch scratched a particular itch for you, it may be its rhyme with the Seattle Mariners of 2025. Those 90-72 M’s went 4-13 from May 24th-June 11th, crumbling against several subpar clubs after dropping two of three to the Astros and converting a 2.5 game AL West lead into chasing 4.0 games, eventually stretching to 7.0 at early July’s sneaky nadir.
This isn’t inherently predictive. These 2025 clubs all recovered for playoff seasons. The Astros, Orioles, Braves, Mets, and Diamondbacks all entered 2025 with better-than-coinflip odds of making the playoffs according to ZiPS, with Houston, Baltimore, and Atlanta outright favored to win their divisions. Every one had at least one stretch as bad or worse than Seattle’s 10-15 start (blessedly now 11-15) to 2026. Every one missed the playoffs.
It’s easier to point to the reasons why in those instances. Baltimore, Atlanta, and Houston saw major stars and/or their entire pitching staffs evaporate due to injury. Arizona suffered from the loss of Corbin Burnes after 11 brilliant starts as well as a cartoonishly stars and scrubs affair in their order. And of course, the Mets continued their interminable immersive performance, hidden secretly in their founding deed, condemning them to draw new generations closer to the works of Camus.
Seattle’s only endured some moderate injuries in 2026, with Bryce Miller ably spelled by Emerson Hancock. Brendan Donovan’s absences have hurt the lineup, but defensively Seattle was always going to be atrocious on the infield, which is the localization of “Angels In the Outfield” in the Stygian realms. Not a single member of Seattle’s front office expected nor counted on full healthy seasons from Victor Robles nor Miles Mastrobuoni.
But health isn’t the only factor. Those unfortunate clubs also saw a their rivals feast on their corpses, as well as those of others. Atlanta and New York finished more than a dozen games behind Philly, as did Arizona of the Dodgers. Baltimore and Houston had not only their own troubles, but gauntlets to face in the form of their divisional rivals. Houston got elbowed out by these M’s, while the O’s were feasted upon by an AL East that sent three clubs to the playoffs.
As it stands, Seattle is in fine shape. Ryan wrote recently on this subject of good teams sometimes having bad stretches, and vice-versa. He noted in his bullet points the hitting being great, except the most important players who receive the most plate appearances and have previously demonstrated the strongest capabilities and track records. In their series with the Athletics, Seattle’s stars finally flared, with Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, and Josh Naylor all securing 6+ hits and some massive boosts to their season numbers.
But just as vitally, the closing point today is how little the rest of the AL West has done to strike upon Seattle’s exposed early struggles. FanGraphs places Seattle’s playoff odds at 70.1% entering Thursday’s off day, tops in the division comfortably, with Texas now a bit better than a coin flip and the ostensible leaders in Sacramento at a 32.8% clip. PECOTA is bolder, seeing the M’s still as division favorites by majority over plurality, and averaging an 87.9% playoff odds.
Unless you believe Seattle to be fundamentally far worse than they were expected to be a few weeks ago, the rest of this season shouldn’t be scuttled from sitting 1-2.5 games back of three flawed clubs. The way the standings sit at present, the American League West is the only division with just a single >.500 team, with the 13-12 Athletics the worst division-leading club around. Their -15 run differential doesn’t endorse them ringingly, and the rest of the 12-12, 12-14, and 10-16 opponents are between where they were expected to be and worse. If Seattle was off to a scalding start, the way the division looks might have a repeat AL West crown looking like fait accompli. As it is, we can still settle for it looking likelier than not.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - JULY 15: In an aerial view, the downtown skyline is seen during a heat wave on July 15, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. Weather forecasts today are expecting temperatures to reach 115 degrees. The Phoenix area is grappling with record-breaking temperatures as prolonged heat waves continue soaring across the Southwest. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Today’s Lineups
WHITE SOX
DIAMONDBACKS
Andrew Benintendi – DH
Geraldo Perdomo – SS
Munetaka Murakami – 1B
Ketel Marte – 2B
Miguel Vargas – 3B
Corbin Carroll – RF
Colson Montgomery – SS
Adrian Del Castillo – DH
Everson Pereira – RF
Ildemaro Vargas – 1B
Sam Antonacci – LF
Nolan Arenado – 3B
Chase Meidroth – 2B
Jorge Barrosa – LF
Tristan Peters – CF
Alek Thomas – CF
Reese McGuire – C
Aramis Garcia – C
Davis Martin – RHP
Michael Soroka – RHP
A rare three-hour game for the Diamondbacks last night: 3:02, to be precise. Just the third of the season, and the first at Chase Field since the home opener. I guess at least it gave the SnakePitette and her husband their money’s worth: they were at the ballpark for the first time together. She popped in to borrow some items from the extensive collection of D-backs wear possessed by Mrs. SnakePit and myself. I await a report on whether they had… what is it the young people call it? Oh, yes: “fun”. Maybe not a game for baseball purists, but with six home-runs and three triples, no shortage of action.
Despite last night, the D-backs are actually seeing shorter games in general this year, even though we now have ABS challenges. The average game has been 2:41 long, which is three minutes less than last season. However, a factor there may be the lack of extra innings: Arizona has played only three frames over regulation through 24 games. That’s one every eight games, which is below last year’s rate of one extra inning every six games. Across all of baseball, nine-inning games are on average four minutes longer than in 2025. Right now, they average 2:42, which is the longest since the pace of play changes came in for the 2023 season.
We are seeing slightly more plate appearances per game, and also the number of pitches per plate-appearance is higher. The former may be due to an increase in extra-inning games: at 9.5%, the current rate would be the highest since 2013. The latter is at 3.93 pitches/PA, the second highest since records started being kept in 1999 (it was 3.97 in 2020). I wonder if this is a result of ABS? I do note we are seeing more walks per game than any year since 2000. But strikeouts are also up on last year too, so… We are still less than a month in to the new normal though, so let’s see how things work out.
It’s rubber match time in the Battle of the Bats between two teams that have scored 34 runs, walloped 12 homers, and — most amazing — sped to six triples in the first two games of the series.
On the White Sox side, Munetaka Murakami has homered in five games in a row, tying team and MLB rookie record streaks; Colson Montgomery is right behind with a four-game streak; and — bet you didn’t have this on your Bingo card — Miguel Vargas has gone deep three in a row, giving him five for the season, in a tie with Shohei Ohtani.
Trying to ice down the torrid timber will be two pitchers who have had very good seasons so far, Davis Martin for the White Sox and Michael Soroka for the Rattlers. They’ve each only given up two homers in more than 20 innings pitched.
Martin is 3-1 with a tremendous 2.16 ERA and 1.00 WHIP and held the A’s to three hits and one run over seven innings his last time out. Soroka is 4-1 with a 2.78 ERA and 1.06 WHIP and held Toronto to five hits and two runs in seven innings during his last start.
Righty Soroka will face a White Sox lineup that earlier in the month went seven games scoring no more than three runs, usually fewer, and now has gone five games scoring no fewer than six runs, usually more. The only Sox he’s ever faced are Andrew Benintendi and Reese McGuire, and for what it’s worth, they’re 3-for-3 against him.
Martin has almost as little experience against Arizona players, with Geraldo Perdomo the only one with a hit among the five at-bats.
First pitch is scheduled for 2:40 CST on what is bound to be a pleasant afternoon under the dome. Usual broadcast suspects.
SURPRISE, AZ - NOVEMBER 05: Walker Martin #12 of the Scottsdale Scorpions bats during the game between the Scottsdale Scorpions and the Surprise Saguaros at Surprise Stadium on Wednesday, November 5, 2025 in Surprise, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The excitement for the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday came from the Major League team, which shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers in a thrilling 3-0 affair. But there was excitement on the farm as well, with all four of their Minor League Baseball A-ball affiliates in action. So let’s dive into it.
All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.
News
Just a little bit of injury news. RHP Reid Worley (No. 36 CPL) was placed on the full-season injured list. This is more of a formality than news, since Worley — who was taken in the 9th round out of high school last year — had already announced that he recently underwent Tommy John surgery.
Unfortunately, AA RHP R.J. Dabovich was moved from the 7-Day IL to the 60-Day. Dabovich has a ton of talent, but injuries have limited him to just 18.1 innings over the last 4 seasons.
AAA Sacramento (11-9)
Sacramento River Cats lost to the Albuquerque Isotopes (Rockies) 6-0 Box score
The River Cats finally got on the field on Wednesday, after having yet another rain out on Tuesday, the latest of oh-so-many postponed games for them this year. Wednesday’s game was postponed as well, as it was a scheduled 12:05 start time but got pushed to the evening to avoid the storm.
Unfortunately, Sacramento probably wishes the game had been canceled altogether, as it did not go well for them at all. The hitting was very poor and the starting pitching was very poor. The only saving grace came from the bullpen, which was fantastic … and featured a lot of players that the Giants are likely to count on throughout the year.
Most notably, Sacramento had a pair of rehab appearances, as both LHP Sam Hentges and RHP Joel Peguero (No. 27 CPL) took the mound. Hentges wasn’t at his sharpest — he gave up a walk in an otherwise clean 6th inning, and threw just 5 of 13 pitches for strikes — but he was still quite effective. Notably, the walk is the only baserunner he’s allowed so far through 4 rehab appearances. I’d say everyone is excited for Hentges to make his way to San Francisco’s bullpen. Well, everyone except Ryan Borucki, most likely.
Peguero was even better, pitching a perfect inning with a strikeout, though he also threw just 7 of 15 pitches for strikes. The triple digit-throwing righty has an ugly ERA (7.20) due to a blowup outing, but if you remove that game, he’s been unhittable: in his other 4 rehab appearances, Peguero has allowed 0 hits and 1 walk in 4.1 innings, with 5 strikeouts.
RHP Tristan Beck, who is also on the 40-man roster, had a nice performance as well, giving up a walk but nothing else in a scoreless 8th inning. Add in showings from RHP Michael Fulmer and LHP Nick Zwack, and the River Cats’ bullpen gave up just 1 hit and 3 total baserunners in 4.2 shutout innings.
The starting pitching was not so good, however, as LHP Carson Whisenhunt (No. 8 CPL) once again labored through a not very encouraging start. Entering the game, Whisenhunt had been very bad at 2 things this year, and very good at 2 other things. The bad things: regularly throwing strikes and, when throwing strikes, making them not easily hittable. The good things: striking out batters, and limiting runs, even when in trouble.
Unfortunately, in this game, he did the 2 bad things, but didn’t do the 2 good things.
It wasn’t Whisenhunt’s worst strike-throwing performance, as he finished with 53 strikes in 88 pitches, a subpar but not horrible number. But he had issues throwing strikes when he needed to, as he walked 3 batters and hit another in just 4.2 innings of action. And those free passes hurt him in part because he was, again, getting punished for throwing hittable pitches, as Whiz gave up 5 hits, which included a home run and a double (although, in his defense, they were ceded to a pair of top-10 picks, Zac Veen and Charlie Condon, respectively).
As for the good things that Whisenhunt has been doing, they were absent in this game. He was unable to sequence his baserunners to avoid an ERA-buster of an outing, as he got tagged with 6 earned runs. And he struggled to miss bats all night, finishing with just 2 strikeouts, only 1 of which was swinging.
With the outing, Whisenhunt’s ERA fell to 5.85 and his FIP to 4.54, and the stuff under the hood isn’t all that encouraging. His strikeouts per 9 (9.9) is good but not great, while his walks per 9 (6.3) is awful. He has a very low ground ball rate (36.2%) and is just 24th percentile in expected batting average against. Despite Veen’s dinger, though, Whisenhunt has actually been doing a good job suppressing home runs (that’s the only one he’s allowed in 20 innings this year) and hard contact (his average exit velocity of 86.7 mph is 70th percentile).
But I would assume the Giants will have some hesitation turning to Whisenhunt if they need a spot in the rotation plugged. The walks are fairly antithetical to what the Giants are looking for, and they drive up his pitch count. Take a look at his starts, and you’ll see something the Giants are desperately hoping to avoid in San Francisco:
4 innings, 71 pitches
4.2 innings, 84 pitches
3 innings, 87 pitches
3.2 innings, 83 pitches
4.2 innings, 88 pitches
But Whisenhunt can at least take solace in the fact that his offense was no better than he was. Sacramento mustered just 6 hits on the day, and all of them were singles. A pair of hitters had multi-knock games, though, as right fielder Victor Bericoto (No. 35 CPL) and third baseman Buddy Kennedy both went 2-4. Bericoto, who struck out once, has had a fairly quiet start to the season after a spectacular spring, but he’s been holding his own in his 1st extended stint in AAA, posting a .780 OPS and a 106 wRC+ with a 24.0% strikeout rate. He’s not forcing the issue (yet), but he looks comfortable. Kennedy is remaining a reliable veteran emergency depth option, as the 27-year old is posting a .333 average and an 18.3% strikeout rate, en route to an .829 OPS and a 128 wRC+.
Sacramento’s top hitting prospects struggled, as first baseman Bryce Eldridge (No. 1 CPL) went 0-4 with a strikeout, while catcher Jesús Rodríguez (No. 16 CPL) hit 1-4 with a strikeout.
AA Richmond (13-3)
Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Somerset Patriots (Yankees) 9-8 Box score
The shoe was on the other foot for the Squirrels in this game. They’ve been full of magic all year long, but in this game, they were on the receiving end, as they held an 8-3 lead going into the 7th inning … and an 8-6 lead entering the 9th … and watched the Patriots come storming back for a victory.
That 9th inning rally was ceded by someone new to the organization, RHP Brad Deppermann, a 29-year old Minor League free agent appearing in his 2nd game with Richmond. Deppermann gave up 3 hits and 3 runs (with 3 strikeouts) in 1.2 innings, including a pair of home runs in the 9th.
And that pair of home runs? Well, Deppermann may be new to the organization, but one of the batters he was facing certainly was not, as Somerset second baseman Marco Luciano went deep in the 9th inning as part of a 2-3, 2-walk day.
It’s been a rough past year for the former top prospect in the Giants organization. He ended the 2025 season — and his Giants tenure — in the slump of all slumps, and then proceeded to be designated for assignment by 4 different teams over the offseason. He finally cleared waivers, was outrighted by the Yankees, and proceeded to hit 1-25 with 10 strikeouts in Spring Training, which resulted in what was surely a highly disappointing opening assignment in AA.
But he’s been making the most of it. His solo shot off of Deppermann, which pulled the Patriots to within a run, was his 4th of the year, and gave him a 1.119 OPS and a 181 wRC+ on the season. He’s also back to the infield, as he’s played exclusively at second base so far for Somerset. That said, it hasn’t all been good: despite the gaudy numbers, Luciano has a 26.2% strikeout rate, and on Wednesday committed his 5th error of the season as he takes his 2nd stab at learning the position.
One thing’s for sure: I’ll be rooting for him.
Anyway, talking about a hitter on another team is really a way of distracting from talking about the pitchers on Richmond, because they weren’t good. Deppermann was the worst, but the starter, LHP Greg Farone, wasn’t a ton better, as he threw just 41 of 70 pitches for strikes, walked 3 batters in just 3.1 innings, and got tagged for 3 runs. Farone did strike out 5 batters, which is nice, and he only allowed 2 hits, but those hits were a double and a home run, so it’s not like he was fooling everyone.
The 2024 7th-round pick doesn’t have very good numbers this year — he has a 5.40 ERA and a 4.16 FIP — but it is nice to see the strikeout stuff coming back. In his debut season last year, the soon-to-turn 24-year old southpaw had 13.0 strikeouts per 9 innings with Low-A San Jose, but just 7.9 with High-A Eugene. Through 4 starts with the Squirrels, the Alabama alum has bounced back to 12.0 Ks per 9.
RHP Will Bednar (No. 24 CPL) is getting reacquainted with Richmond after he was sent down a level to open up a spot on the AAA roster for the rehabbing Sam Hentges. Throwing strikes and limiting walks is what Bednar needs to work on, and Wednesday was a step in the right direction, as he tossed 19 of 28 pitches for strikes and didn’t walk any batters in 1.2 scoreless frames. He did allow 2 hits, but also struck out a pair of Somerset hitters.
The offense, on the other hand, was much better. And it was once again led by the red-hot duo of third baseman Sabin Ceballos (No. 43 CPL) and left fielder Scott Bandura, who combined for 3 of the team’s 4 extra-base hits.
For Ceballos, it was another big fly, as the 23-year old righty went 1-4 with a solo shot, while also drawing a walk, stealing a base, and striking out once.
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) April 23, 2026
He’s up to a .939 OPS and a 138 wRC+ as he looks to put his mediocre 2025 behind him, and most notable is the re-infusion of power. After getting traded to the Giants in 2024 in the Jorge Soler deal, the 2023 3rd-rounder smacked 7 home runs in just 32 games with High-A Eugene. But last year, in his AA debut, the former Oregon star hit just 6 home runs in 108 games.
This year? He’s only played 14 games, and he already has 4 big flies. Keep ‘em coming! His 4th home run last year came on August 13, so he is way, way, way ahead of schedule!
As for Bandura, he went 2-5 and bopped both a triple and a double. The sweet-swinging lefty is having an absolutely majestic start to the season, after struggling with Richmond following a late-season promotion a year ago. During that 45-game stint, Bandura hit just .199, struck out 30.6% of the time, and had a subpar .626 OPS and 88 wRC+.
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) April 23, 2026
This year? He’s hitting .333, he’s dropped his strikeout rate all the way to 15.2%, and he’s rocking a .940 OPS and a 141 wRC+. Just a tremendous start for the 2023 7th-rounder, who will turn 25 in August. Let’s hope he can keep it up!
Center fielder Jonah Cox continued his nice start to the season, hitting 1-2, drawing 2 walks, and stealing a base (though he was also caught stealing). The 24-year old is having an absolutely blistering year, with a 1.074 OPS, a 186 wRC+, and 10 stolen bases in 12 attempts. Those are pretty remarkable numbers, especially considering he hit basically league average last year in High-A.
— Richmond Flying Squirrels (@GoSquirrels) April 23, 2026
On a less happy note, center fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) sat for the 2nd straight game. Per Roger Munter, Davidson was a late scratch from Tuesday’s lineup after experiencing wrist or forearm discomfort during batting practice. Hopefully that’s a minor ailment.
High-A Eugene (13-4)
Eugene Emeralds beat the Hillsboro Hops (Diamondbacks) 6-3 Box score
Hello Walker Martin, how do you do!
One of the most fun things about Minor League Baseball is that every system has a few breakout players in it each year, and they come from the least expected places. For the Giants last year, for instance, it came largely from previously unheralded players … guys like 17th-round pick Drew Cavanaugh, and undrafted free agent Bo Davidson, and lower-budget international signings such as Argenis Cayama, Keyner Martinez, and Luis De La Torre.
Those are such feel-good stories, but an underrated feel-good story is the former top prospect who fell off and then reinvents themself. And so far, if we had to assign far-too-early labels and narratives to the season, one of the best stories of the year would be Martin fitting into that category.
It’s been a strong High-A debut for the third baseman, and Wednesday was his strongest game yet, as he was absolutely electric in every phase of the game. He hit a perfect 2-2, with both a towering solo home run and a double. He drew a pair of walks. He stole a base.
When the Giants used a 2nd-round pick on Martin in 2023, they thought they were getting an excellent athlete who had a rare blend of power and speed for an infielder. What they got instead, at least at the beginning, was someone who didn’t look so exceptional athletically, and also couldn’t make contact with the baseball.
The contact issues, if the start to the season is any indication, are getting resolved. In 2024, between the Complex League and Low-A, Martin hit .218 with a 41.0% strikeout rate. Last year, spent entirely in Low-A, he hit .234 with a 28.4% strikeout rate.
And so far this year? He’s boasting a .280 average and just a 24.1% strikeout rate. And along the way he’s started to show off some of those dynamic athletic traits. His 6 extra-base hits in just 58 plate appearances give him an isolated slugging of .240, which ranks 7th out of 45 Northwest League hitters with at least 50 plate appearances this year. And a year after stealing just 13 bases in 17 attempts, Martin has already swiped 6 bags, and hasn’t yet been caught.
He still has work to do to regain his prospect status, which once sat comfortably in the top 10 of the organization. His swinging strike rate of 18.1% is only a hair better than in his disastrous 2024, suggesting that there’s still a huge hole in his swing. And while his prospect status was propped up in part by the belief that he could play a strong shortstop, he was moved to third base last year and, after committing 23 errors in 2025 split between third and short, already has 6 errors this season.
But still. He’s been a good story this year (he has an .899 OPS and a 146 wRC+ after barely hitting league average in San Jose last season), and he’s a reminder that development takes many different paths (he also only recently turned 22). If he can keep this up, he’ll return to being a prospect that we all should pay close attention to.
Also homering was first baseman Zander Darby, who hit 1-4 with a strikeout and a 2-run shot in the 8th inning that provided the Emeralds with some insurance en route to their 13th victory.
Darby is also looking to bounce back from 2025. Unlike Martin, he was excellent in San Jose last year, but the 2024 12th-rounder had a miserable debut experience with Eugene over the course of a month. Not so this year, as he has a dynamic .918 OPS and a 147 wRC+, while regularly playing every infield position except shortstop. He does have a 31.0% strikeout rate, though.
Designated hitter Dakota Jordan (No. 5 CPL) had a solid game, hitting 1-3 with a walk and a stolen base, while striking out once. The strikeouts remain an issue with Jordan — he has a 30.1% K rate and a 16.3% swinging strike rate — but the things he does well have been on display this year. His center field defense has been strong, he’s averaging an extra-base hit every other game, and he now has 5 stolen bases without getting caught. Add in the .930 OPS and the 149 wRC+, and it’s been a strong season for him, even though there are very clear things he needs to work on.
Unfortunately, shortstop Gavin Kilen (No. 7 CPL) continued to erase his brilliant start to the year, as the 2025 1st-rounder went 0-5 with a pair of strikeouts in this contest. Kilen began the year with a 5-game hitting streak during which time he went 10-20 with 2 home runs, 3 doubles, 3 walks, and just 2 strikeouts. Since then, the lefty has hit just 8-50 with 0 home runs, 3 doubles, 2 walks, and 13 strikeouts. Over the last 6 games, he’s 3-27 with no extra-base hits and 7 strikeouts, and that’s brought his OPS and wRC+ down to .736 and 100, respectively. It’s a game of adjustments, so let’s hope they’re around the corner!
On the mound, LHP Tyler Switalski gave the farm their longest start of the year, as he went 6 innings deep in this game. As he so often does, Switalski positively lived in the zone, needing just 67 pitches to get through his 6 innings, while throwing 50 of them for strikes. He didn’t walk or hit a single batter, and gave up just 4 hits (though that included a home run and a double). In all, he got tagged for just 2 runs while striking out 3, though that raised his excellent ERA to 1.00 and his FIP to 2.90.
You wouldn’t know it from this start, but Switalski, who was a 16th-round pick in 2024 and will turn 23 soon, has really pumped up his strikeout stuff in his 2nd season. Last year he had just 7.9 strikeouts per 9 innings in Low-A, and a mere 6.7 upon his promotion to High-A. But even with the low output on Wednesday, the funky southpaw has punched out 12.5 batters per 9 innings through 4 appearances this year. Despite that, he’s also lowered his walk rate, from 3.7 per 9 last year between the 2 levels, to just 2.5 this season.
There are some funny small sample size elements — opposing batters have just a .200 BABIP against him, and his left on base rate of 95.2% is both hilariously and delightfully unsustainable — but there’s no way to paint this season as anything other than a fantastic success thus far. Let’s hope it keeps up!
RHP Gerelmi Maldonado (No. 41 CPL) continued his development as a closer, giving up 1 walk in a no-hit, no-run inning, with 1 strikeout. Maldonado needed 21 pitches to get through the inning — and threw just 11 strikes — but still, a very nice game. He will fly through the system if he can get the walks under control … he’s issued 7 of them in 5 innings, but has 11 strikeouts.
Low-A San Jose (13-4)
San Jose Giants beat the Ontario Tower Buzzers (Dodgers) 4-2 Box score
Just as Giants fans were probably happy to see a former Giant in Marco Luciano perform well, everyone is happy to see a different former Giant have a few struggles: LHP Blake Snell. Yes, the Dodgers ace made a rehab appearance for Ontario, and the Baby Giants did the correct thing by handing him the loss, as Snell gave up 4 baserunners, 2 runs, and 1 earned run in an inning of work (Snell is only credited with pitching an inning since he got 3 outs, but he did come out for the 2nd inning and faced 4 batters but, thanks to 2 hits and 2 errors, didn’t get any outs).
Hehe.
Shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 3 CPL) introduced Snell to the Cal League by bopping a leadoff single against him. Level has slowly started to return from his truly scorched earth start to the season, but everything is still going delightfully well for him. He hit 1-4 with a walk and a stolen base in this game, while also striking out once and committing an error. On the year he has an 1.147 OPS, a 180 wRC+, and 5 stolen bases in as many attempts, as he appears intent on accomplishing the rare back-to-back breakout seasons.
Jhonny Level lines one up the middle against a rehabbing Blake Snell to get things started for the Giants! pic.twitter.com/no2MgiYecq
Left fielder Damian Bravo had the big hit to give Snell the L, as he knocked an RBI double in the 2nd inning. That was part of a 2-4 day for Bravo, which also featured his 1st stolen base of the year, though he had a strikeout and an error as well. The 2025 15th-round pick started the season very slow, but has caught fire lately, and currently has not just a 6-game hitting streak, but a 6-game extra-base hitting streak. During that time the 22-year old right-hander from Texas Tech has hit 10-26 with 2 home runs, 5 doubles, 2 walks, and 7 strikeouts, which has boosted his OPS to .808 and his wRC+ to 94, and almost put the tough start to the year fully in the rear-view mirror.
It was a dynamic pitching game, with all 3 arms performing quite well. RHP Jordan Gottesman got(tesman) the start and controlled Ontario admirably, allowing just 4 hits and 1 walk in 4.2 shutout innings, while striking out 5 batters.
The reigning 6th-round selection only threw 46 of 74 pitches for strikes, so it wasn’t a dominant outing, but it was one in which he was in total control. Most importantly, after back-to-back 3-run games, Gottesman had the best performance of his young career, and lowered his ERA to 3.52, albeit with a 6.52 FIP.
If dominant is what you’re looking for, however, then RHP Sam Bower provided it by throwing 2.1 no-hit innings with just a walk allowed, while recording 5 of his 7 outs by way of strikes. Yep, that will get the job done!
Bower is a feel-good story, as he’s finally healthy after a career set back numerous times by injuries. The 24-year old St. Mary’s alum was an 11th-round pick by the Giants back in 2022, but didn’t make his professional debut until this season. Now he’s finally able to pitch, and in games like this he’s certainly making up for lost time. If he gets into a rhythm, he probably won’t stay in San Jose for long.
Rounding out the star pitching was RHP Alix Hernandez, who continued his excellent season with 2 strikeouts in 2 no-hit innings. Hernandez did issue a walk, and had 2 runs scored while he was on the mound, thanks to some not-so-good defense, but they were unearned runs, which kept his ERA at 0.00. The 21-year old now has 11 strikeouts against just 2 walks in 8.1 innings this year, as his electricity is on full display.
