Category: Baseball

Five candidates to replace Alex Cora as Red Sox manager originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Red Sox cleaned house on Saturday, firing manager Alex Cora and most of his coaching staff after the club’s 10-17 start to the 2026 season.

Firing Cora was shocking enough, but also parting ways with several prominent coaches (including game-planning and run-prevention coach Jason Varitek) was an unprecedented move that indicates chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has a new vision for the organization.

“We believe in the group of players that we have in the clubhouse, down the hallway, and we believe that a new direction is warranted, new voices, and something that enables us to take a fresh start,” Breslow said during his press conference Sunday morning.

For now, at least, the new voice leading the Red Sox clubhouse is former Triple-A Worcester manager Chad Tracy. He earned the interim tag after Cora was let go, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him turn this opportunity into a full-time role.

Who else could be in the mix to replace Cora? Here are five of the top candidates for the Red Sox manager position:

Chad Tracy

USA TODAY Sports

Tracy is the clear frontrunner to replace Cora after being named the Red Sox’ interim manager on Saturday.

The 40-year-old has served as manager for the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox since 2021, so he has already built relationships with the homegrown players on the roster, including 21-year-old star Roman Anthony.

“I think when you’re familiar with somebody during a time like this (it helps), and someone like Trace steps in, he’s tremendous at what he does,” Anthony said, per Ian Browne of MLB.com. “And I think there’s a reason that everyone who goes through Triple-A and is in Worcester with him loves him, and we know he’s gonna have our back and do everything he can during this kind of tough time.

“We didn’t expect it, but now you kind of just adapt and overcome it, and Trace is gonna be great.”

If the Red Sox start to turn things around under Tracy’s leadership, he should be rewarded with the official big-league manager title.

David Ross

USATI

If Red Sox ownership is committed to Breslow and Tracy can’t shed the interim tag, Ross is an obvious fit. He was on the 2013 World Series champion Red Sox team with Breslow, and he worked with Breslow while managing the Chicago Cubs from 2020 to 2023.

Ross posted a 262-284 record (.480) as Cubs manager and made the postseason just once, falling in the National League Wild Card Series during the abbreviated 2020 campaign. Still, his familiarity with Breslow and the Red Sox organization places him among the leading candidates.

Rocco Baldelli

Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins fired Baldelli after posting a 70-92 record in 2025. He managed Minnesota for seven seasons (2019-25) and posted a 527-505 record (.511), leading the club to three American League Central titles (2019-20, 2023).

Baldelli could be an attractive option for Breslow & Co., as he’ll be among the most sought-after managerial candidates next winter. The Rhode Island native played for the Red Sox briefly in 2009 and embraced analytics during his managerial career, checking multiple boxes for the analytics-driven Red Sox front office.

Ryan Flaherty

Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Flaherty is currently serving as Craig Counsell’s bench coach in Chicago. The 39-year-old former big-leaguer started his coaching career in 2019 as an advanced scouting and development coach for the San Diego Padres.

In 2022, he was named the Padres’ acting manager after Bob Melvin was placed in COVID-19 protocols. He was named San Diego’s bench coach after the 2022 season.

A Maine native, Flaherty is the only name on this list that hasn’t been officially hired to a managerial role. But if the Red Sox want to give a promising up-and-comer a chance to grow with the organization, he would be an excellent choice. It won’t be long before he lands an MLB manager gig, whether it’s in Boston or elsewhere.

Brandon Hyde

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Hyde managed the Baltimore Orioles from 2019 to mid-2025, so he has plenty of experience in the AL East. The 52-year-old posted a 421-492 record (.461) in parts of seven seasons with the O’s, leading them to two postseason appearances and a division title in ’23. The sub-.500 record is a bit misleading, as he was hired during the organization’s rebuild and his tenure ended with a 290-239 record over his final four-plus seasons with the club.

Like Baldelli, Hyde’s experience makes him an intriguing option. He also worked well with the Orioles’ young talent while leading them out of their rebuild, and the Red Sox need someone with a voice that resonates with their young players.

Our prediction: Chad Tracy

Tracy wasn’t simply a “break glass in case of emergency” option for Boston after firing Cora. He was handed the interim manager tag because the organization believes he could be the next guy, and it’s easy to see why.

The players Tracy has managed at Triple-A Worcester rave about him, including former Sox pitchers David Sandlin and Hunter Dobbins.

“Trace is the man. He’s a player’s manager, just a guy that doesn’t have an ego and knows how to get the most out of his players,” Sandlin said, per Nick John of TalkSox.com. “For me, he was a really calming voice when all the alarm bells were going off during the relieving experiment last year.”

“(He) holds guys accountable and knows how to encourage the guys to put in the work,” Dobbins said, per Nick John. “Couldn’t be happier for him to get this shot.”

Tracy has a leg up on the competition because he already has experience managing several key homegrown players on the big-league roster. If the team starts playing more inspired baseball with him leading the clubhouse, he should be officially rewarded with the manager title.

Sung-Mun Song was added to the San Diego Padres roster as the 27th-man for the Mexico City Series and made his debut with two outs in the top of the eighth inning of their 12-7 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks when he came in to run for Luis Campusano. He was able to advance to third base on a wild pitch, but he was unable to score as Jake Cronenworth grounded out to first base to end the inning. Song was then replaced in the order by Freddy Fermin who came in to catch the bottom of the eighth inning. Considering the Padres allowed 10 combined runs in the seventh and eighth inning, the debut for Song may not be as sweet as his expected it would be, but he should get opportunities to experience the winning feeling at some point as the season progresses. Perhaps that will come in a game where he gets his first start, plays the field for the first time or gets his first hit. San Diego will have roster decisions to make about Song before they return to Petco Park on Monday to face the Chicago Cubs. It is unknown if Song will return to his spot in the lineup with Triple-A El Paso or if he will remain in the MLB roster, but speculation will permeate through the fanbase as the Friar Faithful play general manager and coach prior to first pitch.

Padres News:

• Despite an ugly and disappointing loss on Sunday, the Padres players, coaches, staff and fans who made the trip to Mexico City will have memories to share with family and friends for years to come.

• Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune provided some final news and notes about German Marquez and his start against the Diamondbacks that saw him allow four runs in the second and then work through the sixth inning to give the Padres a chance to comeback and win.

Baseball News:

• The Boston Red Sox saw their manager Alex Cora fired on Saturday and came out on Sunday and beat the Baltimore Orioles.

• The Los Angeles Dodgers held the Chicago Cubs without a run and snapped their 10-game winning streak.

• Luis Gil is returning to baseball action, but it will not be with the New York Yankees as the team sent the 2024 American League Rookie of the Year to Triple-A. The Yankees also dropped their game to the Houston Astros despite Aaron Judge hitting a birthday home run. The loss snapped their eight-game winning streak.

• Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale is moving up the pitching record books while helping the Braves get a 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

• Spencer Torkelson homered for the fifth game in a row and helped the Detroit Tigers get an 8-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

• The Colorado Rockies completed a sweep of the New York Mets.

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There was a little optimism to close out the week with a winning Friday, but there's still a lot of home-run work to do, and this is a big week to crush some MLB player props.

Nobody is popping off more on the projections than Trent Grisham today, indoors vs. Jack Leiter, while Victor Caratini looks to do some damage against Luis Castillo.

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Trent Grisham	+490
Victor Caratini	+920
Trevor Story	+880
💲Today's HR parlay	+44078

Trent Grisham (+490)

No player is showing more expected value today at Covers than Trent Grisham at +490. He projects for 0.23 home runs, with the price implying 0.19.

He could see five at-bats hitting leadoff and has gone deep twice over the last seven days. The matchup is favorable against Jack Leiter, a fly-ball arm who allows some of the best launch angles in baseball.

Grisham is also elite at squaring the ball up, leading the New York Yankees in that metric while ranking second in Blast Contact%. Only two players in baseball currently have a higher square-up rate.

On a small slate with poor weather expected on the East Coast, an indoor environment stands out as the best place to target home runs on Monday.

• Time: 8:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Rangers Sports Network, YES

Victor Caratini (+920)

Let’s take a bigger swing with the projected cleanup hitter for the Minnesota Twins in a strong matchup. The Covers projections like the Over in this game, and suggest the Minnesota offense is being undervalued.

Victor Caratini is a switch-hitter who is better from the left side, and the Seattle Mariners bullpen may be without both of its left-handed arms. He’s also very familiar with Luis Castillo, with 23 career at-bats against him.

Castillo may be on the back end of his prime. He’s been inefficient this year, allowing 31 hits in just 23 innings, and projects as a pitcher who could give up 25-30 home runs over the full season.

The fair price for a Caratini home run sits around +770, and double-digit winds blowing out only add to the appeal. Kody Clemens (+520) and Josh Bell (+590) also project as +EV in this game.

• Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Twins.TV, Mariners.TV

Trevor Story (+880)

• Time: 7:07 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SN1, NESN

Today’s HR parlay

Trent Grisham	Bet Now +44078
Victor Caratini
Trevor Story

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers catcher Will Smith did not start either of the final two games of the weekend series against the Chicago Cubs, while dealing with back tightness.

“He could play if he needed to, but we felt it was smart to give him an extra day, and I guess put him into the day-to-day category,” manager Dave Roberts said Sunday, while adding that he didn’t think Smith would require an injured list stint. “Even talking to the training staff, it’s something that he could have played last night, he probably could have played today. But we didn’t want to push it.”

Roberts first mentioned the back tightness for Smith on Saturday, noting that the original plan was for Smith to start two of the three games against the Cubs, and it was just a matter of when to fit in the Dalton Rushing start this series.

Smith hit a three-run home run on Friday night, and the three-time All-Star is hitting .266/.337/.392 with three home runs and a 106 wRC+. The Dodgers plan to keep monitoring Smith, but it doesn’t hurt having Rushing in reserve. Rushing in his second major league campaign is off to a blazing start, hitting .385/.455/.974 with a 284 wRC+ and seven home runs in only 44 plate appearances. Rushing has hit so well, he’s even started a game each at designated hitter and first base when the need arose.

“My hope is that he’s in there [Monday],” Roberts said of Smith, ”But to have Dalton Rushing going how he’s going, it just seems like only downside to push him right now.“

Links

A few more looks at Roki Sasaki’s start and win on Saturday. First from Katie Woo at The Athletic, on Sasaki’s pitch repertoire:

He wanted to throw his splitter harder, he told pitching coaches Mark Prior and Connor McGuiness, similar to how he threw the pitch in Japan. After months of inconsistency, Sasaki finally felt his delivery was in a good enough place to make the change. McGuiness made a couple of tweaks — the biggest one being a slight grip adjustment— and the two coaches gave Sasaki the all clear to try the pitch in his bullpen session in San Francisco.

“The first one was disgusting,” Prior said. “So we were like, yeah, let’s do that.”

Dylan Hernández at the California Post looked back to Sasaki’s early days in Japan and was left wanting in the current version:

“I think that my No. 1 problem hasn’t been my fastball but rather the percentage of forkballs I’ve been able to throw over the plate,” Sasaki said in Japanese.

By reducing the vertical break of the pitch, Sasaki made it easier to control — but also not as lethal.

Ayako Oikawa at MLB.com talked to several major leaguers about their various methods for breaking in their gloves.

Good morning.

Shawn McFarland writes about what we learned regarding the Texas Rangers as they went 3-3 at home over the last week.

Kennedi Landry writes that Kumar Rocker recorded a second consecutive quality start in a unfortunate losing effort.

McFarland writes that the Rangers squandered several opportunities in an exceptionally winnable game to drop a series to the Athletics.

Landry’s newsletter for the week covers 30-year-old reliever Peyton Gray making his MLB debut after a long journey to reach the big leagues.

McFarland writes that the Rangers are trying to make use of Josh Jung’s April-long hot streak by adjusting their lineup.

Landry writes that Brandon Nimmo has been a new face that has made a good impression in the season’s first month.

McFarland notes that the Rangers got some good news with Wyatt Langford already back to swinging the bat despite recently hitting the IL.

And, over at The Athletic Zack Meisel checks out who is making the best use of the new ABS system a month into the season (spoilers: not the Rangers).

Have a nice day!

This was the 3rd week of full minor league play (stats are entering play on Sunday, April 26th).

According to FanGraphs (which factors in age and proximity to the big leagues), 22-year old backstop Caden Bodine continues to be the top hitter in the Rays system; the Rays acquired the former 1st round pick in the Shane Baz deal. Bodine is currently hitting .408/.457/.662 with 3 HR over 83 PA; notably, he has only struck out twice (2.4%).

Meanwhile, Aidan Cremarosa is still the team’s top minor league pitcher. The 22-year old was taken by the Rays in the 8th round of the 2025 draft out of Fresno State. Thus far over four starts, Cremarosa has a 3.60 ERA | 1.76 FIP with a 39.5 K% & 3.7 BB% over 20 IP.

RUMBLINGS

• SO MANY INJURIES
  • Jacob Melton looked awkward rounding third base and had to be assisted off the field. The injury would be disclosed as a sprained ankle and he is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.
  • Daniel Pierce was placed on the 7-day Injured List
  • Brendan Summerhill was placed the 7-day Injured List.
  • Other players placed on the IL (Some of these were last week):
    • RHP Jacob Kisting, RHP Nate Knowles, C Brady Donay, OF James Quinn-Irons, RHP Luke Jackson, & LHP Drew Dowd.
• Baseball America highlighted Taitn Gray as a player that might be rising within the Rays system. The 3rd round 2025 draft pick is having a stellar start to his professional career and launched his 3rd homerun of the season on Sunday.

TEAM LEADERS

• Must currently be assigned to that team
• Baseball America’s top ten prospects are featured below each team they’re currently assigned to.
• (minimum of 30 TBF for pitchers)

Tampa Bay Rays

Top 10 Prospects

• None currently on active roster

Durham Bulls

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .323, Victor Mesa Jr
OBP: .417, Victor Mesa Jr
SLG: .565, Victor Mesa Jr
HR: 4,Justyn-Henry Malloy and Dom Keegan
wRC+: 157, Victor Mesa Jr
SB: 17, Jacob Melton

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 0.00, Trevor Martin
FIP: 2.93, Andrew Wantz
K%: 35.3%, Logan Workman
BB%: 9.0%, Chase Solesky
WHIP: 1.12, Kodi Whitley
AVG: .171, Trevor Martin
WHIFF%: 16.0%, Alex Cook

Top 10 Prospects

• #1 Brody Hopkins
  • AAA: 2.96 ERA | 5.03 FIP | 25.0 K% | 19.2 BB% | .195 AVG | 14.0 WHIFF% | 24.1 IP
• #3 Jacob Melton
  • AAA: .231/.346/.431 | 40.2 K% | 15.9 BB% | 1 HR | 17 SB | 101 wRC+ | 82 PA
    • 4/23: Suffered sprained ankle. Expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

Montgomery Biscuits

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .306, Cooper Kinney
OBP: .431, Xavier Isaac
SLG: .571, Xavier Isaac
HR: 4, Will Simpson & Xavier Isaac
wRC+: 159, Xavier Isaac
SB: 18, Austin Overn

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.80, Michael Forret
FIP: 2.79, Derrick Edington
K%: 29.7%, Santiago Suarez
BB%:  2.4%, Tommy McCollum
WHIP 0.73, Garrett Edwards
AVG: .130, Garrett Edwards
WHIFF%: 14.2%, Santiago Suarez

Top 10 Prospects

• #4 T.J. Nichols
  • AA: 1.80 ERA | 1.79 FIP | 25.0 K% | 0.0 BB% | .300 AVG | 12.3 WHIFF% | 5 IP
    • 4/7: Placed on Injured List
• #6 Santiago Suarez
  • AA: 5.94 ERA | 5.53 FIP | 29.7 K% | 8.1 BB% | .239 AVG | 14.2 WHIFF% | 16.2 IP
• #8 Michael Forret
  • AA: 1.80 ERA | 6.52 FIP | 24.1 K% | 17.2 BB% | .146 AVG | 12.3 WHIFF% | 15 IP

Bowling Green Hot Rods

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .364, Nathan Flewelling
OBP: .464, Tony Santa Maria
SLG: .867, Theo Gillen
HR: 6, Theo Gillen & Connor Hujsak
wRC+: 213, Theo Gillen
SB: 9, Tony Santa Maria

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 0.93, Andres Galan
FIP: 2.05, Anderson Brito
K%: 32.8%, Anderson Brito
BB%: 6.3%, Anderson Brito
WHIP: 1.2, Andres Galan
AVG: .216, Trevor Harrison & Andres Galan
WHIFF%: 14.7%, Anderson Brito

Top 10 Prospects

• #2 Theo Gillen
  • A+: .333/.412/.867 | 23.5 K% | 7.8 BB% | 6 HR | 3 SB | 213 wRC+ | 51 PA
• #5 Anderson Brito
  • A+: 3.68 ERA | 2.05 FIP | 32.8 K% | 6.3 BB% | .259 AVG | 14.7 WHIFF% | 14.2 IP
• #10 Aidan Smith
  • A+: Hasn’t played in 2026
    • 4/2: Placed on the Injured List

Charleston River Dogs

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .408, Caden Bodine
OBP: .457, Caden Bodine
SLG: .662, Caden Bodine
HR: 3, Caden Bodine, Cooper Flemming, Brendan Summerhill and Daniel Pierce
wRC+: 190, Caden Bodine
SB: 6, Derek Datil

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.80, Trey Pooser
FIP: 1.76, Aidan Cremarosa
K%: 39.5%, Aidan Cremarosa
BB%: 2.3%, Trey Pooser
WHIP: 0.80, Alex Wallace & Trey Pooser
AVG: .156, Jacob Kuhn
WHIFF%: 18.5%, Aidan Cremarosa

Top 10 Prospects

• #7 Daniel Pierce
  • A: .286/.364/.510 | 34.5 K% | 7.3 BB% | 3 HR | 4 SB | 132 wRC+ | 55 PA
    • 4/22: Placed on the 7-day IL
• #9 Brendan Summerhill
  • A: .188/.235/.375 | 23.5 K% | 3.9 BB% | 3 HR | 0 SB | 60 wRC+ | 51 PA
    • 4/22: Placed on the 7-day IL

The Boston Red Sox pulled the trigger on a major coaching staff change this weekend when they fired manager Alex Cora and several assistant coaches. There is a brewing player revolt happening because of it, but the Red Sox made the decision to move in a different direction. They’re not playing particularly well and since you can’t fire the players, the “next best thing” was the option the front office chose.

Should the Phillies be considering a similar move?

If this was something they were truly going to think about, the time is probably right to do so. They have had a dreadful road trip that saw them end it with a 9-19 record, the entire operation feels stagnant at this time and there are actual reasons to do something. Maybe that involves Rob Thomson’s job being on the line, maybe it involves Kevin Long looking for his next place of employment. Maybe even Caleb Cotham should start sweating a little more than usual.

Would they actually do it? I’m not so sure about that.

Two years ago, Colton Cowser nearly won AL Rookie of the Year. Last year, he battled through multiple injuries and saw his production decline dramatically. And this year, Orioles President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias is being asked questions about whether or not the former fifth overall pick could be demoted to Triple-A soon.

Elias was pretty clear that Cowser isn’t going anywhere. “He’s frustrated,” Elias said “We know the talent level is there, he’s frustrated. Right now, he’s helping us, and we need him on the team.”

It is obvious to everyone that Cowser has not played up to his expectations or, as Elias said, his talent level. One month into the season, that has forced the Orioles to upend their planned outfield rotation, and it has Cowser’s future with the club in doubt, at least externally.

For the first two weeks of the season, Cowser was the team’s everyday center fielder. Since April 10, he has been used exclusively in the corner outfield spots. And even more recently, he has been treated like a fourth outfielder rather than a starter at all. Over the Orioles’ last 11 games, Cowser has started just four of them. He didn’t start any of the games against the Red Sox this weekend, not even the one against a right-handed starter coming out of an off day.

It’s hard to make an argument for Cowser to play any more than he is. The numbers just aren’t good enough. He owns a .200/.274/.236 batting line with two doubles, zero home runs, six walks, and 20 strikeouts.

Strikeouts have always been a problem for Cowser. His 31.7% K-rate this year is actually better than his career number (32.2%), though both are awful. And, as usual, he is pairing it with a fine walk rate (9.5%). The bigger problem is that he has shown no power in 2026. As a rookie, Cowser popped 24 home runs and had a .447 slugging percentage. Last year he hit 16 homers and had a .385 slug despite a myriad of injuries. This year his slugging percentage is the dumps at .236 and he is yet to go deep.

What has saved the Orioles center field position from being an offensive black hole yet again is the presence of Leody Taveras. Signed for $2 million this past offseason, the expectation was for Taveras to be a depth option across the outfield. Instead, he has earned the everyday spot in center with his .288/.400/.441 batting line that includes two home runs, 15 RBI, 11 walks, and 14 strikeouts.

This version of Taveras is much different than the one that found success with the World Series-winning Rangers in 2023. That year saw him post a 101 wRC+ while playing Gold Glove-caliber defense in center. This year, he has a 141 wRC+ and is just passable in the field.

How long can Taveras keep this offensive production up? That’s where things get tricky. His 15.5% walk rate is more than double his career rate (6.9%), and he has a .349 BABIP. Negative regression is probably coming for both of those numbers. He also has below average exit velocities, barrel rates, and hard hit rates.

We may be seeing the numbers start to slip already. Taveras is hitting .143/.217/.286 over his last 23 plate appearances. That has brought his season OPS from 1.016 on April 18 to .841 today. One bad week isn’t enough to take Taveras out of the lineup, especially with Cowser still scuffling. But it could be a warning sign that the Orioles need to figure something out in center field.

Dylan Beavers and Blaze Alexander are the other two Orioles that have played in center this year. Neither looks like a natural fit at the position, and should probably only be used there in emergency situations. But it could be an avenue to go down when one of them is hot at the plate and manager Craig Albernaz is looking to juice his lineup. That seemed to be the logic for Beavers to start there on Sunday.

Down in Triple-A Norfolk, there are two center field options that are at least somewhat intriguing.

Enrique Bradfield Jr. was the team’s top draft pick in 2023. He came out of Vanderbilt as an old school lead-off type. It’s good bat control, limited power, but elite speed and a great glove. The Orioles probably hoped for better batting averages out of Bradfield—he hit .242 last year and is at .224 so far this year—but he still walks a lot and can steal a base at any time. If you need a sparkplug type, he could be the answer. It just might be more a of bottom-of-the-order type of bat than a lead-off man.

Jud Fabian is another name to watch, though probably not an everyday solution. The Orioles coveted Fabian in the 2021 draft, but the Red Sox swooped in and took him instead. He declined to sign with them, returning to Florida for a year, which allowed the Orioles to get their man the following year. The guy is lauded for his physical skills, but has always been killed for his lack of a hit tool. That hasn’t changed this year. He is striking out 29.6% of the time, but he is also walking a ton (21.4%) and has shown tremendous power (five home runs, .440 SLG). The glove and arm are good too. He feels like a fourth outfielder type, but could plug and play with the O’s pretty soon.

Elias didn’t pursue any other center field upgrades this offseason beyond Taveras. He seemingly assumed that Cowser would be fine, and when he needed a breather the club had suitable fill-ins. All the while Bradfield could further develop and prove worthy of being the heir-apparent at the position. For now, that has been a reasonable solution. But if Taveras’ production dries up, which it may already be doing, it will exploit a hole in the Orioles roster than many pointed out all winter long.

Columbus Clippers 3, Buffalo Bisons 6 (F/7) Game 1
Columbus Clippers 6, Buffalo Bisons 4 (F/8) Game 2

Clippers move to 14-13

Pedro Avila was tagged for five runs in the second inning of game one of the doubleheader, pretty much removing any chance of Columbus getting back into the game.

Nolan Jones went 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk while Kody Huff homered and walked. Petey Halpin also reached base three times, going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks.

Game two was much more fun. Starting pitcher Logan Allen allowed four runs on six hits through 5.1 innings, but the bullpen was sensational after that. Daniel Espino pitched a scoreless 0.2 innings, coming in mid-inning for the first time with a strikeout.

Franco Aleman followed with a scoreless inning and a pair of strikeout to send the game to extra innings and Tanner Burns was downright sensational, striking out all three batters he faced in the 10th inning to earn his second save of the season.

Offensively, Juan Benjamin blasted off for his second home run of the season and he timed it perfectly in extra innings to give Columbus the lead.

Petey Halpin doubled and walked while Nolan Jones went 1-for-2 with a walk and a hit by pitch.

Kody Huff and Dom Nunez both went 2-for-4 with Huff stealing a base while Dayan Frias walked, stole a base and scored a pair of runs.

Akron RubberDucks 10, Bowie Baysox 5

RubberDucks improve to 13-8

Akron took advantage of wild Bowie pitching, walking 13 times with nine hits to score 10 runs.

Nick Mitchell had the big hit of the game, going 1-for-5 with a three-run home run and a walk.

Ralphy Velazquez had a solid game, going 2-for-5 with a walk and three RBIs while Jacob Cozart went 2-for-3 with three walks to reach base a whopping five times.Alex Mooney went 1-for-4 with a double, a walk and a stolen base while Jose Devers went 2-for-4 with a walk. Conner Barstad also walked three times and was hit by a pitch.

Starting pitcher Khal Stephen didn’t have his best stuff and also was a bit unlucky with sequencing. He only allowed three hits and walked one, but he gave up four runs in 4.0 innings with six strikeouts.

Adam Tulloch, Carter Rustad and Jack Carey all had scoreless appearances in relief.

Lake County Captains 5, West Michigan Whitecaps 3

Captains improve to 11-10

I know I talk about him every time he starts, but Justin Campbell is too good to still be at High-A. He pitched 3.0 nearly immaculate innings on Sunday with four strikeouts, no walks, no runs allowed and just one hit allowed.

Melkis Hernandez followed and was solid, allowing one run on two hits in 4.0 innings while striking out five and walking three.

Luis Flores held on to preserve the win, allowing a pair of runs in his two innings of work to get a save.

Offensively, Lake County didn’t have any major standouts, but everyone contributed. The team’s nine hits were spread between eight players and the one player who didn’t get a hit (Dean Curley) walked three times.

Jace LaViolette went 1-for-3 with a pair of walks, Aaron Walton went 1-for-3 with a double and was hit by two pitches. Nolan Schubart went 1-for-4 with a hit by pitch. Ryan Cesarini went 1-for-4 with a walk. Bennett Thompson went 1-for-3 with two walks.

Esteban Gonzalez only went 1-for-5, but he blasted a two-run home run. Jeffrey Mercedes went 2-for-4 and Spencer Howe doubled and stole a base.

Hill City Howlers 9, Hickory Crawdads 8 (F/11)

Howlers improve to 12-9

You can learn a lot about a team by how they perform against some of the best teams, and Hill City proved itself Sunday against the then 15-5 Hickory Crawdads. who have one of the best records in minor league baseball.

Trailing 8-4 in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Howlers rallied for four runs to tie the game, then held Hickory scoreless in the 10th and 11th innings before walking off in the bottom of the 11th to earn a massive come-from-behind victory.

The walk-off wasn’t anything particularly crazy. Robert Arias was the ghost runner and advanced to third base on a balk before trotting home on a game-winning sacrifice fly from Juneiker Caceres.

How Hill City tied the game was more exciting. The Howlers loaded the bases with no one out, then Anthony Martinez walked to bring in the first run. Jose Pirela then was hit by a pitch to bring in the second run. Tyler Howard walked to bring in run No. 3 and Jhorvic Abreus hit into a 4-6-3 double play, which scored the tying run.

Incredibly, Hill City managed nine runs on just four hits thanks in part to walking a whopping 13 times and getting hit by one pitch.

Caceres went 1-for-3 with two walks and the game-winning sacrifice fly. Robert Arias was a beast, going 1-for-3 with three walks and two stolen bases. Martinez went 0-for-2, but walked three times as well. The lone extra base hit came from Abreus, who doubled and walked. Yerlin Luis also walked twice and stole a base.

Starting pitcher Chase Mobley didn’t have his best stuff, allowing two runs on three hits with three walks and no strikeouts in 2.0 innings.

The first four pitchers all allowed runs, but the back half of the bullpen locked things down, not allowing a single hit or run over the game’s final 4.1 innings.

Wes Burton pitched 1.1 perfect frames with a strikeout. Miguel Flores pitched a perfect scoreless ninth inning with a strikeout and most impressively, Angel Perez didn’t allow a run in either the 10th or 11th innings despite starting both with a ghost runner on second base.

The Reynaldo Lopez mechanics saga is, well, a saga.

First, we had his diminished velocity in Spring Training due to “mechanics” rather than injury or something else that persisted, as he was throwing in the high 90s in this 2026 debut. That debut went well without Lopez pitching all that well, but he looked and pitched much better in starts three and four, until essentially a career-worst outing in Washington upended the nascent trend of effectiveness and threw everything into question.

Since then, Lopez has been on a rotation hiatus, but really, a pitching hiatus. He was warming up in the bullpen in Sunday’s win over the Phillies, but didn’t make it into the game. The explanation? It involves “mechanics” again.

So, because I have no idea and am hoping someone else will do the work for me: what mechanical issues are we talking about, exactly? Mechanics have now been attributed to Lopez’ wide variance in fastball velocity from pitch to pitch and game to game, but also his overall effectiveness. I can’t tell whether it’s meant to be a vague catchall for everything under the sun, i.e., he’s not effective and we’re not sure why but he doesn’t want to go to on the Injured List, or whether there really is something that he’s unable to fix in a side session. Anyone have any ideas?

By all accounts, Alex Cora is a good manager as far as these things go. Dan is correct in that you really can’t predict or even properly judge a manager’s contributions except in obvious outlier situations, but the buzz around Cora has always been positive. His strongest claim to fame is winning a World Series with one of greatest teams of all time, credit for which can go whichever way one is inclined. Did the manager inspire or ride the team to greatness?

Cora landed on the positive side of that unknowable gulf, having come out of the 2018 season with an incredible reputation that persists to this day even if it doesn’t necessarily stand up to scrutiny. Unfortunately, that was followed by a yearlong suspension by MLB for his role in the Astros’ cheating fuckery, leading him to being fired by the Sox, which honestly was probably a blessing given that the “season” he ended up missing was 2020, which was a fake idea (the playoffs were good tho). But let’s assume for purposes of this column it wasn’t and say getting fired for cheating was generally bad for his career.

So when Cora returned as the Red Sox manager in November 2020, several months and a “full” MLB season later during which the Mookie Betts-led Dodgers won it all, it was understandable from both sides. The Sox had been terrible and Cora needed to rebuild his reputation. But the last time Cora had suited up for the Sox, Betts was on the team. Cora knew the environment into which he was walking. He was returning to Dysfunction Junction.

Fast-forward to second Instagram post following his shock dismissal on Saturday, a reel of Mookie Betts talking about the business of baseball in Boston. I wasn’t moved. He came back into the fold with eyes wide open with respect to John Henry and Sam Kennedy — a Massachusetts Milhouse crossed with Walnut St. Wormtongue — and has been kicked to the curb like so many before him, including Betts and Rafael Devers. He didn’t appear to be too upset or surprised about it in the first post, that’s for sure:

It was, as I wrote on Saturday, probably just time for him to move on, but the Red Sox, in their inimitable way, botched it completely. And let me tell you something: the nostalgia dopamine blast for this nonsense I had for this was amazing. It wasn’t just a throwback to the more recent FSG fuckery. I’m 48 years old, which is older than most of you, and pre-FSG this was the norm. It’s sort of unreal that the Sox won 5 titles between 1900 and 1918 and 4 between 2000 and 2018 and decided, exactly 100 years apart, to aggressively self-sabotage. Billy Shakes would be proud; Claude could never. Even in the misery, life is beautiful, in its way.

But I don’t feel bad for Cora. He came back because they gave him money and power because they were chasing their tail, which they continue to do. Live by the disinterested billionaire and his quietly power-mad protege, die by them. Henry is cooked. Kennedy’s job is obscuring that, and he’s running out of other people to blame. Breslow is a patsy, one who’s supremely aloof but better at his job than his predecessor. But on the subject of Chaim Bloom I can firmly now say that I might have been too hard on you, given how absurd your bosses were.

This is the lab. In the lab we do experiments. Sometimes it is the moral and ethical equivalent of shining a magnifying glass on an ant. In other times, it is a little more serious. I should note that when I put things like this in the lab, it is not proceeded by “the Astros should…” or “the Astros should not….” This is not a hot take. If it were a hot take I certainly would not put it in a lab.

What we are looking at here is ultimately the value of a superstar. Branch Rickey is obviously known as the executive that broke the color barrier. He was also an executive with the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates. He infamously told Ralph Kiner that he could finish in last with him or without him. We have obviously seen the huge numbers that Yordan Alvarez has put up and I have spent the last two labs comparing those numbers with the rest of the team and the best hitters in baseball history.

Obviously, if the Astros were shopping Alvarez it would be big news. There have been a few superstar level moves in baseball over the last several years. Heck, Juan Soto was involved in two of those deals as the teams that held him cashed in with prospects. I shouldn’t have to tell anyone that if Yordan became available, there would be at least a half dozen teams waiting in line to make their offer. So, what would a Yordan Alvarez trade even look like?

We should start by accurately pegging his value. Last time, we saw that he is on pace to get close to 12 wins at the pace he is currently at. However, that is not horribly realistic. The best thing we can do is look at what he has done and project from there. There are two ways to do this. We can look at the WAR numbers and project those over 150 games or we can look at the traditional hitting numbers and do the same.

Yordan Alvarez: 25.8 FWAR in 703 career games through Thursday, 5.5 FWAR per 150 games
Yordan Alvarez: .298/.392/.580, 39 HR, 96 Runs, 111 RBI, 2 SB, 78 BB

Those are pretty sparkling numbers. We could surmise that this is a career season for Yordan and he might be closer to a seven or eight win player. This is where things get more dicey than what we might think. It would be simplistic to suggest that you want something equivalent to seven or eight wins to break even on the exchange. However, that misunderstands the designation of a replacement level player. The players coming up to replace injured bench players are replacement level players. Most teams are not employing those players as regulars and the Astros are no different.

I hate to pick sides in a debate over metrics because that would taint the lab and its purpose. However, most sabermetricians seem to prefer Fangraph’s WAR over baseball-reference.com’s WAR. Again, I use both because I like getting a cross-section of thought on a player. In this case, we will use FWAR just to keep everything simple. Below would be the Astros regular lineup according to their 2025 FWAR numbers when Yordan Alvarez is removed from the equation.

Asterisk: Joey Loperfido’s 2024 and 2025 FWARs were combined to simulate the number of plate appearances he would likely get in a full season.

So, as you can see, none of the regulars would be a replacement level player, so you are not starting at zero. The effective difference between Loperfido and Yordan would be an average of five wins and maybe closer to six or seven wins this season alone. I have to emphasize again that we are not simply looking for six or seven wins. We are looking for players that would be six or seven wins better than the players they are replacing.

For instance, if you wanted to upgrade at catcher then you would take the wins above 1.6 as the net improvement. So, a three win catcher is not a net three wins. It would be a net 1.4 wins. As you might imagine, it would be a group of players (likely three or four) that you would hope would combine to add six or seven wins of value to make up for the six or seven wins you are losing. One could easily look at the lineup and pitching staff and identify the spots where an upgrade would be nice. I’d surmise at least one of the players would be a pitcher if not two. The thinner outfield would also be a place where they would likely add.

Unfortunately, that would not be the end of the ledger on any such trade. A look at the wins added would also have to include the element of time. Yordan would have considerable value this season as someone under contract through the 2028 season on a pretty friendly hometown discount (6 years, 115 million). So, we are not only talking about the seven or eight wins he would produce this season, but also those same wins in 2027 and 2028. If we assume Loperfido is fixed at about a win then the Astros would need to recuperate conservatively 18 wins total.

The good news is that they wouldn’t have to do this only through 2028. The players they would likely get back with have more club control than Yordan. If those players were on the younger side then you would be talking five or six seasons of club control remaining for each player. So, three or four players with an average of five seasons of club control each would need to add 18 net wins over the span of those five seasons.

For instance, the tale of the tape on the Kyle Tucker trade is still ongoing. The Cubs got 4.5 wins out of Tucker last season which is probably three to 3.5 wins more than a marginal starter would have gotten. However, the Astros get the services of Cam Smith for six seasons, Isaac Paredes for this year and next year, and Hayden Wesneski for three additional seasons after this year. The Astros have not recouped the four wins yet, but they have through 2030 to recoup a grand total of four wins.

Obviously, the downside is bringing in prospects that produce zero wins. That is always the chance you take with these kinds of deals. However, while it seems foolish to think that you could get bang for your buck when you trade a superstar, the math actually works out more often than not. Naturally, math is not making these trades and it is a lot harder to do because you have to pick the right prospects and accept the fallout of trading a superstar player. Keep in mind, this is a lab experiment where we explain the math behind a theoretical deal. I am not advocating trading Yordan and I’m certainly not predicting it. What do you think? Could we ever recoup that value back?

A’s 2, Rangers 1

• And back to .500.
• So far this year, the Rangers have been at .500 eight times. Well, nine, if you count Opening Day, which I don’t.
• Kumar Rocker was fine on Sunday. The problem was, he apparently needed to be perfect.
• A pair of two out walks in the first were followed by a Carlos Cortes triple, and that ended up being the ballgame.
• It didn’t matter that Rocker didn’t walk anyone the rest of the way, went six innings with only those two runs coming across off of him, that the bullpen threw up three shutout innings.
• Rocker only struck out three A’s hitters in the game, and generated just eight swinging strikes, none of which came on his fastball or sinker. Not a dominating performance, but at the end of the day, he allowed just two runs in six innings, and you’d like to think that the Rangers offense would take advantage of that.
• The relievers the Rangers used — Tyler Alexander, Gavin Collyer, and Peyton Gray — are currently sporting a 0.63 ERA, a 0.00 ERA, and a 0.00 ERA. That’s good, it seems like.
• Offensively, the Rangers put a lot of runners on base but didn’t do anything with them once they were on base. Texas was 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position, and the “1” was a Josh Smith bunt single that loaded the bases.
• The Rangers totaled six hits and five walks, and also had Evan Carter reach once on an HBP and once on an error on an attempted sac bunt. That Evan Carter sac bunt/error play also brought home the lone run of the game, but with no RBI credited because of the error. So the Rangers didn’t even get an RBI in this game.
• How sad.
• Part of the problem was a lack of extra base hits. Josh Jung had a pair of doubles, but every other hit was a single, and its harder to score runs with singles and walks than with extra base hits.
• Texas left runners on second and third with two outs in the second. Evan Carter reached on an HBP with one out in the fourth, stole second, was joined on the bases by Josh Smith with a two out walk, and both were stranded.
• In the sixth, after the E1 that brought Jung — who led off the inning again with a double — home and put Carter on base, Jake Burger walked and Smith had that aforementioned bunt single, loading the bases. Danny Jansen then struck out. Sam Haggerty, who had hit for Alejandro Osuna the inning before, struck out. Brandon Nimmo then hit a line drive that, had it been in the gap, would have cleared the bases, but instead was to straightaway center field, and thus was caught for an out.
• It felt then that it was over, and in fact, the Rangers only had two more baserunners the rest of the way, and didn’t get a runner past first base.
• The old adage says that you are going to win a third of your games and are going to lose a third of your games, and its what you do with the other third that matters. This was a game squarely in that other third, and the Rangers let it get away.
• Kumar Rocker hit 95.8 mph with his sinker, averaging 94.4 mph. Tyler Alexander reached 91.8 mph on his sinker. Gavin Collyer hit 97.8 mph with his fastball. Peyton Gray’s fastball touched 92.7 mph.
• Corey Seager had a 108.4 mph line out. Jake Burger had a 107.9 mph sinlge. Josh Jung had a 107.7 mph fly out and a 100.2 mph fly out. Brandon Nimmo had a 104.6 mph fly out and a 103.0 mph line out.
• Another game looms on the horizon. Maybe the Rangers will win it.

Outside that pair of series against the Athletics and Rays, this Yankees team has been pretty adept at quickly brushing off losses. That’s something they’ll look to do in the backend of this road trip after missing out on a sweep opportunity against the Houston Astros. After Luis Gil’s increasingly disappointing efforts on Sunday—ultimately leading to his demotion—the Yankees will start the series against the Rangers with the best they have to offer on the mound in a three-game set of high-profile pitching matchups.

Monday: Max Fried vs. Jack Leiter (8:05 pm ET)

Already making his fifth start on the road in 2026, Max Fried has been superb early on, but if there is one element to his game that’s lacked a bit, it is in the strikeout department—not that this is ever the primary aspect of his game. The Rangers’ offense presents quite the opportunity for Fried and other left-handers on the Yankees pitching staff—Texas has struggled the most against southpaws in the big leagues, only one of 30 clubs with a strikeout rate of at least 30 percent against them, and also boasts a pitiful 67 wRC+. Further damaging the Rangers’ prospects against left-handers is the absence of Wyatt Langford, their premier right-handed hitter and one of the more exciting young players in the American League, currently on the IL.

One of the few pleasant pieces of news for the Rangers last season was that Jack Leiter established himself as a solid starter. However, in the middle of a campaign that placed him seventh on the Rookie of the Year voting roll call, Leiter had his shortest outing against the Yankees. The young right-hander struggled with the free passes—conceding four of them—and not even finishing four innings. Yankee hitters will once again look to work deep counts against Leiter. It’s a bumpy start to 2026 for the former Vanderbilt standout, as he hasn’t finished the sixth since March and has allowed 12 runs on 17 hits and 9 walks across his last trio of outings (14.1 innings) against the Dodgers, A’s, and Pirates.

Tuesday: Cam Schlittler vs. Jacob deGrom (8:05 pm ET)

For the first time since he squared off against George Kirby in his second start of the season, Cam Schlittler will not be the center of attention of a pitching matchup, as he and the Yankees face one of the more dominant starters of this century of baseball. There is not a whiff of hyperbole in that statement when you assess what deGrom has done—the two-time near-unanimous Cy Young Award winner’s level of dominance in a post-prime period with the Rangers only enhances his legend, still just about as good as it gets out there. He has a 2.13 ERA and a 1.066 WHIP in his five starts for 2026, fanning 35 — including 10 Bucs his last time out.

It remains to be seen how Giancarlo Stanton will recover in the following days, having been out of the lineup on Sunday. Jasson Domínguez’s reported promotion seems to indicate that an IL stint is a lock (and Domínguez will be ready to face the Rangers’ righties from his superior side). If the Yankees’ designated hitter is indeed unable to suit up on Tuesday, it’ll be a particularly impactful hit; Stanton has potent numbers he has shown against deGrom over the years, hitting four home runs in 27 at-bats against him, doing so with a .333 batting average. Other than Stanton, the Yankee hitter who has faced deGrom the most is Cody Bellinger, also featuring quality numbers against the Rangers ace with a pair of bombs in 19 at-bats.

Wednesday: Will Warren vs. Nathan Eovaldi (2:35 pm ET)

On one side, an undefeated pitcher, who has been quietly solid early on in 2026 (only 11 qualified pitchers have topped Warren’s 0.9 fWAR in 31.1 innings); on the other, a starter that, as of Sunday, April 26th, is tied for the league lead in losses with four. As a former Yankee, it’s weird to think that Nathan Eovaldi has faced them more than any other club in his career as a big leaguer. Eovaldi was so magnificent last year that with this disappointing beginning to his 2026 campaign, the veteran is only four earned runs away from matching his total the previous season (25), achieved in exactly 130 innings of work.

While the results for Eovaldi have been vastly underwhelming, nothing under the hood corroborates the potential expectation of a rapid decline, so the Yankees should expect the usual customer who has a 3.22 ERA in 24 career appearances against them. While Stanton’s numbers against deGrom stand out more and the impact of his potential absence might be especially hurtful, his career stats against Eovaldi are also impressive. The currently sidelined Yankees DH has four bombs in 38 at-bats against Eovaldi, facing him one more time than Judge, who has gone deep twice with a .324 average facing him.

Meet the Mets

The Mets lost twice to the Rockes in the span of six hours. Do you really want to hear any more?

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue Game One and Game Two, MLB.com Game One and Game Two, Newsday, New York Daily News, New York Post, The Athletic

Following Sunday’s losses, the Mets designated Tommy Pham for assignment and signed Austin Slater to take his place in a move I am sure will right all wrongs.

After another bad start in a stretch of 10 months worth of bad starts, the future of Kodai Senga in the Mets rotation or on the team at all isn’t well-defined.

Around the National League East

Chris Sale passed Chuck Finley on the strikeouts leaderboard and recorded the 150th win of his career in the Braves’ 6-2 win over the Phillies.

In a 10-inning contest, Dicky Lovelady enjoyed the greener pastures of Washington got his first victory in a Nationals uniform in a 2-1 contest against the White Sox.

Graham Pauley hit his first home run of the season, but a home run from Casey Schmidt in the seventh inning canceled that out and put the Giants ahead of the Marlins in what ended up a 6-3 game.

Around Major League Baseball

An age-old question for professionals and children alike: how the hell do you break in a new glove?

In the aftermath of the Red Sox’s mass firing of coaches, John Henry remains a silent and looming force in the entire process.

On the field, Not That Chad Tracy made his managerial debut in the Red Sox dugout and recorded a win in his first game.

Future trivia question answer and former Rookie of the Year Luis Gil was demoted to Triple-A by the Yankees after another disappointing start, this time in Houston.

At the stage in his career where every move he makes moves him up some sort of leaderboard, Mike Trout’s home run on Sunday put him ahead of Alfonso Soriano on the all time list and made him the Angels franchise leader in extra base hits.

Thanks to MLB’s oddly-terrible job marketing it, you may not have known that the Diamondbacks and Padres were playing in Mexico, but they were!

A bad day for their battery, the Angels placed Logan O’Hoppe on the 10-day injured list with a broken wrist and designated beleaguered closer Jordan Romano for assignment.

On his 34th birthday, Aaron Judge homered for the Yankees, but they lost the game leaving his level of birthday happiness a mystery.

This Date in Mets History

Happy birthday to esteemed Mets legends Frank Catalanotto, Orber Moreno, and and J.D Davis.