WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 07: James Wood #29 of the Washington Nationals celebrates with Curtis Mead #45 after hitting a home run in the third inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Nationals Park on April 07, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After the bullpen blew it again, the Nats need to get off the mat. Last night was a really disheartening loss that showed just how bad this bullpen is. The offense continues to get the job done though, which is really exciting for the present and future of the club.
With a righty on the mound, the Nats made a few tweaks to the lineup. Luis Garcia Jr. will be back at first base, and hitting second. Jose Tena and Drew Millas are also back in the lineup. The red hot James Wood remains the leadoff man today and will play right field. Miles Mikolas is on the mound against his old team, and this feels like a crossroads moment for him. If he is not doing well early, Brad Lord is well rested and should be ready to roll.
The Cardinals only made a couple lineup changes. Ramos Urias will be back in the lineup, shifting Nolan Gorman to DH. Nathan Church will be in center field over Victor Scott. Otherwise, it is a familiar crew. Nats pitchers will have to watch out for the red hot Jordan Walker, who looks like a different player this year. Former first rounder Michael McGreevy will be on the mound for the Cards.
If you like runs, the Nats are a team you would love to watch. The offense has been electric and the pitching has been abysmal. With Miles Mikolas on the mound, hopes are not high for the pitching staff. Hopefully the offense can continue to slug. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!
Time for Part 2 of this brief series on early season data points, I was hoping there might be more positives to take away from yesterdays game but alas the beat or baseball season goes on.
Today I will be taking a look at a group of lefty hitters where half of them are off to pretty good starts!! The other two however have been major letdowns.
Andres Gimenez 268/318/463 – 127 WRC+
Gimenez much like the start of last season has started this season hot and he currently leads the Jays in slugging which is good for him but anytime Gimenez leads the team in slugging is likely to bad for the Jays.
For Gimenez the big data point over this small sample is him absolutely crushing right handed pitching, against RHP he is hitting 346/393/654!!!!
Yes unfortunately there is some over performance based on balls in play and quality of contact and he is highly unlikely to maintain this kind of batting line against RHP for the whole season but if you break his splits against RHP by all months where he has seen at least 150 pitches so far this month would rank 2nd in expected batting average, 3rd in expected slugging, 2nd in xWOBA and 2nd in barrel rate.
This month still has lots of time left so not really a fair comparison but so far the first 11 games of the season has been one of the better 11 game hitting stretches against RHP of his career.
Daulton Varsho 171/275/229 47 WRC+
Varsho is clearly off to a rough start especially after being so hot during Spring Training, during the Spring Varsho was doing a great job pairing his new found hard contact from last season with much more contact.
Since the start of the regular season he has so far done a good job maintaining the contact and has raised his contact% all the way up to 82.7% from last seasons 71.7% which has cut his K rate from 28.4% to 15% and he has paired this with a much higher line drive rate of 31% compared to last seasons 16.9%.
Way less Ks and more line drives you would expect this to be a good thing but unfortunately the quality of contact has really fallen off with his hard hit rate dropping from 40.3% to 24.12% and his average exit velocity currently down 7.8 MPH.
It is early but if Varsho can find a happy medium between the all power high K hitter he was last season and the low K line drive guy he has been this season he should be able to help this Jays roster score some runs.
Jesus Sanchez 286/375/429 141 WRC+
I will keep this one pretty short because the Jays have to be happy with what they have received from Sanchez in the batting lineup this season and based on quality of contact he has actually underperformed his expected batted ball stats!!!
A 47.6% hard hit rate, 9.5% barrel rate to go with a 21.9% K rate is a pretty great start to his Blue Jays career.
Addison Barger 053/174/105 – Minus 11 WRC+
Ahhh yeah not a great start to the season for Barger and he is of course now on the IL with an injury.
Even Barger’s 1 hit on the season was a ball that should have been a HR but the RF brought it back and dropped the ball so he was able to get a double but Barger is one dropped HR robbery from still having a 000 batting average.
Digging thru Barger’s data and honestly I don’t have much positives to take away, he is making more contact on both in zone and out of zone pitches so if he gets back to last season’s chase rate he could make some real progress on his K rate
He has still been hitting the ball hard with a 50% hard hit rate so hopefully the IL stint allows him to reset and come back with a better approach and he can combine the new contact rates with his regular quality of contact and get on a roll.
Davey Lopes, one of the greatest basestealers in a go-go era of Major League Baseball and a member of the Los Angeles' Dodgers' iconic infield of the 1970s, died Wednesday, April 8, the Dodgers announced. He was 80.
Lopes, a native of Rhode Island who debuted in 1972, stole 558 bases in his career, ranking 26th all-time, and won National League stolen-base titles in 1975 (77) and 1976 (63). He was the second baseman on a Dodgers infield featuring first baseman Steve Garvey, shortstop Bill Russell and third baseman Ron Cey, a quartet that first played together June 23, 1973, when Garvey supplanted Bill Buckner at first.
Two weeks later, the alignment became permanent, and the quartet became a huge part of Dodgers NL pennants in 1977 and '78, before losing to the New York Yankees in both World Series.
Yet in 1981, the Dodgers finally broke through to vanquish the Yankees, and the quartet broke up shortly thereafter, with the Dodgers opting for rookie Steve Sax at second, leaving Lopes seeking a team.
He was far from done, stealing 50 bases over two seasons alongside Rickey Henderson in Oakland and then, as a 40-year-old, swiping 47 bags for the 1985 Chicago Cubs.
Lopes' mutton chops and long hair kept a '70s-era ethos in the game well into the next decade, and the hard-nosed and respected player went on to manage the Milwaukee Brewers from 2000-2002 and serve as a coach for the Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies and Dodgers.
A four-time All-Star and Gold Glover, Lopes is survived by his brothers Patrick and John and sisters Jean, Judith, Mary and Nina.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 03: Tyler Mahle #54 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the New York Mets in the top of the first inning of a major league baseball game at Oracle Park on April 03, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The San Francisco Giants wrap up this series against the Philadelphia Phillies this afternoon from Oracle Park.
Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Tyler Mahle, who enters today’s game with a 7.00 ERA, 5.04 FIP, with nine strikeouts to three walks in nine innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 10-3 loss to the New York Mets on Friday, in which he allowed five runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks in five innings.
He’ll be facing off against Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola, who enters today’s game with a 3.18 ERA, 3.42 FIP, with 16 strikeouts to three walks in 11.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Phillies’ 10-1 win over the Colorado Rockies on Friday, in which he allowed one run on five hits with nine strikeouts and a walk in six and a third innings. One run allowed at Coors Field is practically a no-hitter, so that’s pretty impressive.
Davey Lopes, the second baseman who helped lead the Dodgers to the 1981 World Series, died on Wednesday, the team announced.
“Lopes was a member of the team’s record-setting infield of the 1970s and 1980s and one of the finest basestealers in MLB history,” Los Angeles officials said in a statement just minutes before the Dodgers took the field at Rogers Center in Toronto for a matchup with the Blue Jays.
Davey Lopes died on Wednesday, the Dodgers announced. MLB via Getty ImagesDavey Lopes was prolific on the basepaths, stealing 30 or more bags eight times in his 16-year career. Getty Images
“Our condolences go out to his family and friends.”
Lopes was 80 years old.
The Washburn University product was picked by the Giants in the eighth round of the 1967 draft, but he did not sign. He was then taken by the Dodgers in the second round of the 1968 draft, and he went on to have a storied career for the Boys in Blue.
He made his debut in 1972, and he became a regular contributor for the Dodgers in 1973.
Davey Lopes coached for the Dodgers following his retirement from playing. Getty Images
He was prolific on the basepaths, stealing 30 or more bags eight times in his 16-year career.
In 1978, he made his first-ever All-Star Game, and he went on to be selected to the league’s Midsummer Classic three more times.
In ’81, he was part of the Dodgers team that defeated the Yankees for the World Series crown.
Lopes finished his career with stints in Oakland, Chicago and Houston, officially wrapping his time as an MLB player in 1987. He ended up playing in a total of 1,812 games and recording 557 stolen bases with a .263 batting average.
Lopes went on to coach in retirement, suiting up for the Rangers, Orioles and Padres in the 1990s. In 2000, he was hired as the Brewers’ manager.
He piled up a 144-195 record before he was fired in 2002.
Lopes later had roles on the Nationals’ and Phillies’ staffs before he returned to the Dodgers to be a first base coach.
He ultimately retired from managing following 2017.
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LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 1981: Davey Lopes of the Los Angeles Dodgers slides into third base during the 1981 NLCS playoffs1981 at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Davey Lopes, the best second baseman in Los Angeles Dodgers history, died on Wednesday at age 80, the team announced.
Lopes was the oldest member of the Dodgers’ famed infield — the quartet of Lopes, Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, and Bill Russell were regulars for 8 1/2 years, the longest-running infield in major league history — and the latest of the four to debut, but Lopes remained a force atop the Dodgers lineup and one of the best leadoff men in the sport during the 1970s.
“If we weren’t the best infield of all time, we were the most successful,” Cey wrote in his autobiography ‘Penguin Power,’ written with Ken Gurnick. “Every member was a multi-year All-Star, we appeared in more World Series than any infield, and we won a world championship.”
In Lopes’ first seven seasons, from 1973-79, he ranked sixth in the majors in runs scored (639, averaging 91 per season) and was second in stolen bases (371, only two behind Lou Brock; averaging 53 steals per year). He led the majors with 77 steals in 1975, and paced the National League with 63 steals in 1976.
Lopes even stole 47 bases in 1985 with the Astros in the year he turned 40, still the record for any major league player that old in one season, 10 more than Rickey Henderson. Lopes and Henderson are the only players to steal more than 26 bases in a season at age 40 or older. And when Lopes stole 47 bases in 1985, he was only caught four times.
Efficiency was the name of the game for Lopes, too, stealing bases at an 83-percent clip throughout his career, the 12th-best in MLB history for anyone with at least 200 attempts. His 418 stolen bases with the Dodgers are second only to Maury Wills, and Lopes’ 83.1-percent success rate in tops in franchise history.
“A guy that’s a base stealer, he disrupts the crowd, he disrupts the team that he’s playing against, and he can set the tone for the game,” Lopes said in an interview with MASN Sports in 2017 when he coached for the Nationals. “I studied it, from the standpoint of picking up on idiosyncrasies that the pitcher had when he threw to first compared to when he threw to home. The sooner you can pick that up, the quicker you can get out of the box.
“I always talk about quickness, and as soon as I say that most people think of a body movement, but it’s not. It’s what you can recognize with your eyes. The quicker you can recognize a key, the first key that a pitcher is telling you he’s coming over to first or going home, the bigger the jump you’re going to get.”
That wisdom served Lopes well in his three decades of coaching after his playing career ended in 1987. He managed the Brewers from 2000-02, but was otherwise a first base coach from 1988 through 2017 for the Rangers, Orioles, Padres, Nationals, Phillies, and Dodgers, including multiple stints in San Diego and Washington.
In addition to coaching first base, Lopes would often be in charge of coaching baserunning, as he did with the Dodgers from 2011-15, including tutoring a young Dee Gordon. In his first year back in Los Angeles in 2011, the Dodgers stole bases at a 75.9-percent clip, at the time the second-highest clip in franchise history. Three of Lopes’ five years on the Dodgers coaching staff (2011, 2013-14) produced top-14 stolen base success rates in club history.
Lopes was never shy about speaking his mind, both as a player and coach, sometimes in blunt fashion, and suffered no fools. He is the last Dodger to hold official captain status, doing so in 1978 and into 1979, when he resigned from the position midseason as the two-time-defending pennant winners were mired under .500.
“I felt [resigning as captain] was the best thing for myself and the team,” Lopes told Associated Press in June 1979. “This way, we’re all equal. I have no title. Nothing more will be expected of me than anyone else.”
Lopes in 1979 had his best season at the plate, hitting .265/.372/.464, setting career highs in runs scored (109), runs batted in (73), slugging percentage, OPS (.836), and wRC+ (133). His 28 home runs that season were 11 more than he hit in any other year, and coupled with his 44 stolen bases Lopes delivered the first season in Dodgers history with at least 22 home runs and 22 steals.
In 10 seasons with the Dodgers, Lopes was a part of four pennant-winning teams, and started at second base and batted leadoff in all 45 postseason games for Los Angeles during that stretch. He hit .242/.332/.393 and scored 28 runs in those 45 games, a 101-run pace over a full year. Lopes’ 19 stolen bases still stand as the Dodgers postseason record.
Lopes made four All-Star teams, the last coming in 1981, when the team finally broke through to beat the Yankees in the World Series. But that was his age-36 season, and with second baseman Steve Sax the most ready among the next crop of Dodgers prospects, Lopes was the first member of The Infield to depart. The Dodgers traded Lopes for 20-year-old minor league infielder Lance Hudson in February 1982.
“I think a lot of individuals would like to get through their whole career and stay with one team,” Lopes said after the trade, per the Los Angeles Times. “But there’ll be a time in their careers when everyone is rejected.”
Three quarters of The Infield started their careers at different positions, including Lopes and Russell in the outfield to start their professional careers. Lopes was part of the Dodgers’ legendary 1968 draft hall, long considered the best draft year by a team in major league history. Lopes was taken in the second round of the January draft, and spent the first three-plus seasons in the minors in the outfield before switching to second base.
Lopes after leaving the Dodgers found new life as a utility man, mixing in time at all three outfield positions in a addition to third base aside from his duties at second. That allowed him to play through his age-42 season for the A’s, Cubs, and Astros. He posted above-average years offensively in each of his last five seasons, and overall hit .265/.348/.410 with a 112 wRC+ after leaving Los Angeles.
In addition to his 30 years of coaching, Lopes played 16 years in the majors, the first 10 of which were with the Dodgers. He hit .263/.349/.388 with 155 home runs, a 111 wRC+, 557 stolen bases, and scored 1,023 runs.
The Dodgers say Lopes is survived by two brothers, Patrick and John, and four sisters, Jean, Judith, Mary and Nina.
The Dodgers are currently playing a series against the Toronto Blue Jays, the team they beat in last year's World Series. Rojas played a starring role in the decisive Game 7 by hitting a game-tying home run in the ninth inning.
After missing Tuesday's game, Rojas is back in the lineup for Wednesday's series finale in Toronto, playing shortstop and batting ninth.
“To feel like he can go out there and play in a big league ball game, whether it's a distraction, doing it in honor of his father, whatever reason, I heard that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters before the game.
Roberts said Rojas would likely take a leave of absence, but he wanted to play today.
Rojas, 37, broke into the majors with the Dodgers in 2014, was traded to the Miami Marlins at the end of the season before returning to L.A. in another trade in 2023. He re-signed with the Dodgers as a free agent this offseason.
Rojas has a career slash line of .260/.313/.362 with 57 home runs and 67 stolen bases in 13 major league seasons.
Apr 2, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher David Peterson (23) throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images | Robert Edwards-Imagn Images
Mets lineup
Francisco Lindor – SS
Bo Bichette – 3B
Jorge Polanco – DH
Luis Robert – CF
Brett Baty – RF
Mark Vientos – 1B
Marcus Semien – 2B
Carson Benge – LF
Francisco Alvarez – C
SP: David Peterson – LHP
Diamondbacks lineup
Ketel Marte – DH
Corbin Carroll – RF
Geraldo Perdomo – SS
Gabriel Moreno – C
Nolan Arenado – 3B
Ildemaro Vargas – 2B
Jose Fernandez – 1B
Tim Tawa – LF
Jorge Barrosa – CF
SP: Ryne Nelson – RHP
Broadcast info
First pitch: 4:10 PM ET TV: SNY Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
J.D. Martinez wrapped up his 14-year playing career in 2024 with the Mets.
The two sides have kept in close contact since then, though, and New York’s higher-ups began pitching the idea of him joining reuniting with them in a front office role as early as this winter.
Martinez had other offers, but after evaluating his options he decided that this was where he wanted to be.
The slugger signed on as a special advisor to baseball operations last week.
“I’ve always built a good relationship with everybody here,” he said Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field. “It was just one of those things where I was like, you know what, this could be fun.
“I like what they are doing here. I like the team they’ve built here. I had a great experience here with the front office, the ownership, the clubhouse, everything -- it was just a really fun place to come so I said why not, let’s do it.”
Martinez is only planning on attending home games here and there as he eases back into baseball, but plans on being in contact with players and the front office consistently.
With all of his knowledge and experience, he’s just looking to be a resource for this group.
“I had quite a roller coaster throughout my career," Martinez said. "From getting released, to being a top prospect, to my rise, then going and retiring -- I think there’s a lot of things I’ve experienced where I can relate to a lot of the guys.
“So it's just my knowledge and just helping in anyway I can -- anything I see whether it’s the offense, whether it’s the strategy, whether it’s the mentorship, I’m just here to help them out in anyway that I can.”
As far as this year’s Mets team, Martinez sees a really talented group.
He even went as far as saying this team is by far "more talented" than the 2024 squad that went on a miraculous run before falling to the Dodgers in six games in the NLCS.
“It’s a really good group,” Martinez said. “I’ve played with and against a lot of these guys, I have a ton of respect from them -- Bo [Bichette], Marcus [Semien], and Juan [Soto], bringing those guys over, those are big bats and difference-makers.
“At the beginning of the year they weren’t really scoring, they are starting to score more now. Adding Freddy [Peralta] too is huge with the pitching staff they’ve added -- they’re a threat, this is a really good baseball team.”
Dodgers vs. Reds, 1980. Pictured Davey Lopes and Dave Concepcion. (Joe Kennedy / Los Angeles Times)
Davey Lopes, the no-nonsense, base-swiping second baseman on a historic Dodgers infield that played together for a record 8½ seasons, died Wednesday at age 80, the Dodgers announced.
The first 10 years of Lopes' 16-year major league career were spent with the Dodgers, and he returned to the organization in 2011 to serve as first-base coach for five years. Lopes was a four-time All-Star who won two stolen base titles, one Gold Glove and helped the Dodgers to four World Series, including the championship in 1981.
Taken in the second round of a 1968 Dodgers draft haul considered the most talented in baseball history, the 5-foot-9, 170-pound Lopes rose from a rough-and-tumble Rhode Island upbringing to become the team's everyday second baseman and leadoff batter by 1973.
Lopes played outfield in the minor leagues but became part of a bold move by Dodgers manager Walter Alston before the 1973 season: Lopes would move to second base, Bill Russell from center field to shortstop and Steve Garvey from third to first base. Ron Cey would be installed at third. The Dodgers moved longtime coach and scout Monty Basgall — known as an exceptional infield instructor — from the front office to the field to help the players adjust to their new roles.
Lopes continued to play well, not retiring until 1987 at age 42. He stole 557 bases and was successful in 83% of his attempts, one of the best rates in major league history. He also displayed power for a leadoff batter, hitting 155 home runs, including a career high of 28 for the Dodgers in 1979.
Although Lopes' lifetime batting average was .263, he had an excellent eye, walking nearly as many times as he struck out and logging an excellent .349 on-base percentage. He scored 1,023 runs in 1,812 career games.
As games progressed, Lopes typically batted after the pitcher, who was at the bottom of the order. He became adept at stalling tactics that gave pitchers ample rest if they'd just returned to the dugout after running the bases.
Times assistant sports editor Houston Mitchell, a lifelong Dodgers follower, described what happened next: "Lopes was a magician at wasting time to give the pitcher a chance to towel off and cool down a bit. Especially if there were two out. Lopes would spend an extra moment or two in the on-deck circle. He'd take his time getting the round weight off his bat. Then he would slowly walk to the batter’s box."
David Earl Lopes was born May 3, 1945, and raised in East Providence, R.I., a town of Irish, Portuguese and Cape Verdean immigrants seeking jobs in factories and along the waterfront. One of 12 children, Lopes was a toddler when his father died. Lopes’ mother, Mary Rose, worked as a domestic.
Lopes often described his upbringing as difficult, referring to his neighborhood as a "ghetto" and describing it to Times columnist Jim Murray as “roaches, rats, poor living conditions, drugs as prevalent as candy."
“If it hadn’t been for sports, there’s no telling what I’d be or where I’d be,” Lopes told The Times' Ross Newhan in 1973. “All I had to do is step off the porch to a choice of all the things you associate with a ghetto."
Long before he became an accomplished base stealer, Lopes said he became an expert at shoplifting. “I never stole anything major, just clothes and baseballs and bats,” he told Murray.
Lopes needed an adult role model and one came along in the coach at an opposing high school, Mike Sarkesian, who grew up in a Providence tenement but became the basketball coach and athletic director at Iowa Wesleyan College the year Lopes graduated from high school.
“Whatever I missed by having not really had a father, Sarkesian provided,” Lopes told Newhan. “He could relate to my problems, my environment. The drive, the determination, not to give in to the ghetto, to make something of my life, stems from my relations with him.”
Sarkesian recruited Lopes to play baseball at Iowa Wesleyan. Two years later, Sarkesian became athletic director at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan., Lopes went with him. Lopes was taken by the San Francisco Giants in the eighth round of the 1967 MLB draft but opted to return to Washburn, where he played baseball and basketball well enough to be inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 1987.
The Dodgers drafted him in the second round a year later and Lopes signed for $10,000. He skipped spring training his first two minor league seasons to complete his classes at Washburn and graduated in 1969 with a degree in elementary education.
Lopes spent the 1968 and 1969 seasons at Class-A Daytona Beach, and married Linda Lee Vandover during his first season. The night before the wedding he broke up no-hitters in both games of a doubleheader with late-inning hits.
A promotion to triple-A Spokane came in 1970. His manager was Tommy Lasorda and the team was exceptional, posting a record of 94-52. Among his teammates were Garvey and Russell as well as other future major leaguers Bill Buckner, Bobby Valentine and Tom Paciorek.
Lasorda recalled Lopes as so shy he wouldn't speak to anyone. “It took two years, but he finally came around,” Lasorda said. “[He] finally got to the point where he felt he belonged.”
Lopes showed improvement at the plate his second year at Spokane, batting .306 with Cey as a teammate. The Dodgers moved their triple-A affiliate to Albuquerque in 1972 and in his third season at that level Lopes exhibited the blend of power and speed that would be his calling card, posting a slugging percentage of .476 while stealing 48 bases.
Five years in the minor leagues after having attended college meant Lopes was 27 when he made his major league debut that September. He was the opening day second baseman the following year and turned 28 a month into the season.
Lopes quickly made up for lost time, his stolen base totals increasing in each of his first three full seasons from 36 to 59 to 77. On Aug. 24, 1974, he stole five bases in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, becoming the first NL player to do so since 1904.
It wasn't long before the best catcher in baseball, the Reds' Johnny Bench, lauded Lopes, saying, "He’s the best there is at stealing. Lopes not only has the knowledge and speed, but also the quick acceleration. He has everything.”
The once reticent Lopes also showed leadership qualities as early as 1976, when a throw by new Dodgers outfielder Dusty Baker had missed the cutoff man.
“We don’t play that way,” Lopes told Baker.
"Hey, I almost threw him out.” the Dodgers newcomer replied.
“We don’t play that way,” Lopes emphasized.
"I’d never had a player get in my face like that, and I didn’t like it too much,” Baker recalled of the incident. “I looked up and the whole team was coming over to back up Davey.”
Lopes was popular with fans as well. In 1980, he received 3,862,403 votes to lead all MLB players and start at second base in the All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium. That was his third of four consecutive All-Star appearances.
The Dodgers were consistent winners with Lopes, Garvey, Russell and Cey anchoring the infield, but lost the World Series in 1974 to the Athletics and in 1977 and '78 to the Yankees. In 1981, however, they broke through, winning the Fall Classic for the first time since 1966 by defeating the Yankees in six games.
“They can do anything they want with us now," said Lopes, who set a record by stealing 10 bases in 10 attempts that postseason. "I've got the ring. They can't take that away from me."
Youngster Steve Sax, however, did take his job. Lopes, 36, was traded to the A's during the offseason. He was hardly through, playing another six seasons and even stealing 47 bases in 99 games in 1985 for the Chicago Cubs to become the first 40-year-old player to steal more bases than his age.
Lopes retired after the 1987 season and spent the next four years as a coach under Valentine with the Texas Rangers. Next he coached for three years under another former teammate, Baltimore Orioles manager Johnny Oates, and for four years with the San Diego Padres under Bruce Bochy.
In 2000, Lopes got his shot at managing, signing a three-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers, who posted losing records in his first two seasons. When the Brewers won only three of their first 15 games in 2002, Lopes was fired.
“A lot of people discouraged me from taking [the Brewers job] because they thought I was just setting myself up for failure,” Lopes told The Times' Ross Newhan, sensing the odds were catching up to him, “but I was determined to show them I could do it.”
Lopes returned to the Padres as a first-base coach from 2003-2005. He spent one season as the Washington Nationals’ first-base coach and baserunning adviser, and he served in the same capacity for the Phillies from 2007 to 2010.
The Phillies led the major leagues in stolen base percentage three times during his tenure and won the 2008 World Series championship, but that season began with a serious health issue for Lopes. Days before spring training, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. It was in remission by opening day.
In 2011, Times columnist Bill Plaschke lobbied for the Dodgers to add Lopes to the coaching staff. General manager Ned Colletti did just that. Lopes displayed an empathy for young players, saying, "I’ve been there, I know what it’s like when you’re young and you need to know somebody is covering your back. Sometimes you feel lost, and you need a coach or manager to alleviate that.”
Lopes served as Dodgers first-base coach for five years — immediately improving the team's base-stealing prowess — before closing out his five-decade baseball career in 2017 as a coach for the Nationals under his old teammate Baker.
“I’m not doing much. I’m retired, taking it easy,” Lopes said about retirement on a podcast. “It was not a difficult decision to make, but one I was kind of hesitant to make. But it all works out.
"I got the opportunity to play, manage or coach for a long, long time. I’m extremely thankful. I was one of the lucky ones in the big leagues for 45 straight years. That’s a long time. I have no complaints.”
Lopes is survived by two brothers, Patrick and John, and four sisters, Jean, Judith, Mary and Nina.
TORONTO, ONTARIO - NOVEMBER 01: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning in game seven of the 2025 World Series at Rogers Center on November 01, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Dodgers look to end their road trip undefeated as they wrap things up against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Shohei Ohtani makes his first start in Toronto Game 7 of last year’s World Series, and he’ll face right-hander Dylan Cease.
DUNEDIN, FLORIDA - MARCH 14, 2026: A closeup view of a Rawlings glove used by Matt Vierling #8 of the Detroit Tigers during the sixth inning of a spring training game against the Toronto Blue Jays at TD Ballpark on March 14, 2026 in Dunedin, Florida. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
One more game against the Dodgers and then they can get lost. And it is an afternoon game. “Work from Dome”, it says.
If you are interested at all, I’ll be in Takamatsu, Japan today. I know nothing about it, but the pictures are pretty. But, as I write this I’m still getting ready to go. We’ve been told we should learn a few phrases in Japanese and I have the ‘thank you’ (doumo arigatou) and the thing you say before eating down (Itadakimasu). And a few other things.
A few years ago we hosted Japanese students who came here to learn English and we learned some stuff. I still remember how to say cold and hot (which likely won’t come in that handy). I have never been great at learning other languages. I did ok in high school french until we had to remember if nouns were masculine or feminine. Then I kind of checked out.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 07: Corbin Carroll #7 of the Arizona Diamondbacks runs off the field as Ronny Mauricio #0 of the New York Mets celebrates his tenth inning game winning pinch hit single with teammate Luis Robert Jr. #88 at Citi Field on April 07, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Diamondbacks News
Gallen Grinds Through Five in Extra Inning Loss It wasn’t pretty, but Zac Gallen did what he needed to in order to complete five full innings and keep his club in the game. A successful late-game ABS challenge by ADC allowed the Snakes to score three with two outs to take the lead, but then the bullpen was unable to lock things up.
Eduardo Rodriguez is Looking Like X-Factor for Arizona Eduardo Rodriguez has picked up right where he left off in the WBC, giving the Diamondbacks two stellar outings in his two turns on the bump so far. The veteran lefty is currently looking very much like the pitcher Arizona thought they were signing three winters ago.
A Lukewarm Take on Ice-Cold Bats Strikeouts and walks are both up while BABIP is down. Hitters are having a harder time than ever finding batted ball success, despite MLB’s efforts to stack the deck in their favour.
Apr 7, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman (26) motions to his team mates after hitting a double during the fifth inning of the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images
After splitting the first two games of the three game series against the San Francisco Giants, on Wednesday afternoon, the Phillies will go for the rarest of feats: Winning a series in Oracle Park.
Aaron Nola gets the ball for the Phillies, coming off of a strong start against the Rockies.
MOOSIC, PA - JUNE 24: A general view of action on the field during the game between the Worcester Red Sox and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at PNC Field on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 in Moosic, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Tringali/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
Hang the red, white and blue bunting. Cue the pregame pomp and circumstance.
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are coming home for the first time in 2026.
After opening the season with nine games on the road. the RailRiders are set for their home opener at PNC Field against the Durham Bulls, top affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The six-game series was scheduled to begin Tuesday night, but cold temperatures and below-freezing wind chills in northeast Pennsylvania caused the first game to be postponed. The opener is now scheduled for tonight (Wednesday).
It has been a successful start to the season for the 6-3 RailRiders. They took the final four games of the series last week in Rochester, outscoring the Red Wings, 46-22. They had one game where they scored 17 runs and another where they scored 16. They hit 14 home runs, including 11 in the final three games. Yanquiel Fernández accounted for three of them. Paul DeJong, Jasson Domínguez, and Ernesto Martinez Jr. each had two. One of Martinez’s homers was a grand slam. No. 6 prospect Spencer Jones also had a grand slam in the series finale.
On the mound, the bullpen was solid, accounting for all four wins. Yovanny Cruz led the way with one win and one save, not allowing a hit, run or walk in 2.1 innings with four strikeouts. Perhaps the one area where the RailRiders could improve is defensively. They’ve committed 13 errors, which are the most in Triple-A.
Now, they head home to face a Durham team that is off to a 2-7 start. The Bulls dropped four of six in their series last week against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Phillies’ Triple-A club.
Durham becomes the 10th opponent Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has faced in a home opener in franchise history. Syracuse is the most at seven times (5-2). Buffalo (4-2) and Tidewater / Norfolk (1-5) are next at six each, followed by Rochester at five (1-4); Pawtucket (2-1), Ottawa (0-3) and Lehigh Valley (3-0) three each; Richmond at two (1-1); and Columbus once (0-1).
Overall, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is 17-19 in home openers. Since becoming a New York Yankees affiliate in 2007, it is 11-7 in home openers — 4-2 as the Yankees (2007-12), 7-5 as the RailRiders (2013-25). They won four straight from 2017-21, and from 2008-10 they won three straight by shutout. They blanked Lehigh Valley in 2008, 4-0, on a combined one-hitter, including six perfect innings from Kei Igawa. In 2009, after starting 8-0 on the road, they came home and blanked Rochester, 11-0, as former AL Rookie of the Year winner Angel Berroa had four hits, including two home runs, and five RBIs. In 2010, four pitchers combined of a six-hit shutout and made David Winfree’s home run hold up for a 1-0 whitewashing of Buffalo.
Here are some other noteworthy home openers in franchise history:
April 26, 1989: Baseball returns to northeast Pennsylvania. After playing its first 16 games of the season on the road, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons christen Lackawanna County Stadium with a 9-2 loss to the Tidewater Tides.
April 7, 1994: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre faces the Columbus Clippers, who were the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate at the time. Dave Silvestri and Chito Martinez each had three hits in the Clippers’ 7-4 win, spoiling future Cubs skipper Mike Quade’s debut as SWB manager. For the Clippers, a little-known catcher named Jorge Posada went 0-for-4.
April 5, 2007: Playing its first home opener as a Yankees affiliate after nearly two decades with the Phillies, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre lost to the Norfolk Tides, 7-5. Norfolk scored five runs in the top of the eighth inning to erase a 4-2 deficit, as the bullpen let down Scranton starter Tyler Clippard, who went on to have a 16-year MLB career and multiple stints with the Yankees.
April 14, 2012: This “home” opener actually was played in Syracuse. This was the season where Scranton/Wilkes-Barre played home games in Rochester, Syracuse, Batavia, and Buffalo (as well as Pawtucket and Allentown) as the unofficial “Empire State Yankees” while PNC Field underwent a reconstruction project. They won, 6-2; familiar starters for the Yankees that day included catcher Francisco Cervelli, first baseman Steve Pearce, shortstop Ramiro Peña, center fielder Dewayne Wise, and pitcher Adam Warren.
April 4, 2013: Playing as the RailRiders for the first time at the renovated PNC Field, Pawtucket spoils the home opener by scoring five runs in the top of the 10th inning for an 8-4 victory. The RailRiders left 17 runners on base in the game. Current Yankees assistant pitching coach Preston Claiborne threw an inning and a third of relief in this one, fanning three, with soon-to-be Yankees backup catcher Austin Romine behind the plate.*
*Editor’s note: And Zoilo Almonte batting third, playing left field. Because I (Andrew) am contractually obligated to reference Zoilo Almonte at all possible times.
One of the highlights of this year’s home opener will be the unveiling of a massive new video scoreboard that spans nearly 3,000 square feet — 1,876 square feet larger than the previous board. The outfield LED wall and in-park ribbon boards also have been replaced and a new sound system has been installed around PNC Field.
