Category: Baseball

The carousel of Braves pitchers has been in full effect the last few days.

Reynaldo Lopez’s Tuesday start lasting just one inning depleted the bullpen for Wednesday.

That in turn led to Didier Fuentes being called to start Wednesday’s game, moving the rest of the rotation’s starts back a day. But when Fuentes lasted just three innings and Atlanta was forced to use Martín Pérez, who was scheduled to start Thursday’s series finale in Washington, out of the bullpen, it sent the carousel on another spin.

It landed on another call-up, but this time for a debut. The Braves are promoting 2022 first-round pick JR Ritchie (35th overall pick) to make his first major league appearance as Atlanta looks to win its fifth straight series Thursday afternoon at Nationals Park.

Ritchie, 22, started the season as a top-100 prospect in baseball according to Baseball America (84th), Baseball Prospectus (88th) and MLB Pipeline (90th). He’s also surged up the Braves’ farm system, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 2 prospect in the organization.

The timing is right for a few reasons. Notably, he’s on normal rest after last throwing for Gwinnett last Saturday. But also, he’s been in strong form which makes him a viable candidate for a major league opportunity.

The 2025 season was his breakout as he went all the way from High-A Rome to Triple-A, posting a combined 2.96 ERA over 140 innings. But the right-hander has taken that to an even higher level early this season in Gwinnett. Over five starts with the Stripers, he’s allowed three runs over 27 1/3 innings for a 0.99 ERA. The strikeout numbers (28) are good. The walks (13) are the only real blip on his stat line.

For his debut, Ritchie will be facing a better-than-expected Nationals lineup through 25 games. Washington’s offense is seventh in the majors in home runs (30) and eighth in batting average (.255), scoring 17 combined runs in the last two games against the Braves.

Ritchie’s counterpart on the mound will be Washington’s Cade Cavalli (0-1, 4.12 ERA). A former first-round pick himself by the Nationals in 2020, the right-hander will be making his sixth start of the season and the 17th of his career since debuting in 2022.

Cavalli has yet to allow a homer this season — which could be tested against a Braves lineup which had it third four-homer game of the season Wednesday and is tied for second in the majors with 36 homers — but has allowed a .290 opposing batting average and has battled some control issues with 18 strikeouts to 12 walks in 19 2/3 innings.

It bears mentioning, though, that he had no walks in his last outing, when he needed 92 pitches to get through four innings in Washington’s extra-innings loss to San Francisco Saturday, giving up three runs (one earned) on seven hits with five strikeouts.

This will be Cavalli’s first time facing the Braves, who are the only NL East opponent he hasn’t yet pitched against.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Thursday, April 23, 1:05 p.m. ET

Location: Nationals Park, Washington, DC

TV: BravesVision

Streaming: Braves.tv, MLB.tv

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

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Just nine games are on the schedule across the big leagues today, but there are still plenty of solid betting opportunities. 

My MLB player props will highlight Tyler Glasnow, Munetaka Murakami, and Jacob deGrom. 

Read more in my MLB picks for Thursday, April 23.

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Tyler Glasnow	Over 6.5 Ks	-110
Munetaka Murakami	Over 0.5 RBI	+170
Jacob deGrom	Over 6.5 Ks	-136

Tyler Glasnow Over 6.5 strikeouts (-110)

Tyler Glasnow has always been a strikeout pitcher, and 2026 has been no different. The hard-throwing righty has racked up 29 Ks in 25 innings of work so far.

Glasnow has cashed the Over in strikeouts in three straight starts. In fact, he’s only hit the Under once this season.

The veteran struck out seven last time out, and he had another seven Ks in the outing before that. Glasnow has 16 strikeouts in 13 road innings, and the Los Angeles Dodgers visit the San Francisco Giants tonight. 

San Fran is also striking out 8.33 times per game across their last three, and Glasnow had 11 Ks in 11 2/3 innings against them in 2025. 

• Time: 3:45 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SNLA, NBCSBA

Munetaka Murakami Over 0.5 RBI (+170)

I rolled with this pick on Wednesday, and Munetaka Murakami came through once again, homering for the fifth straight game and driving in two runs.

He’s now cashed the Over in RBI in five games in a row as well, collecting a whopping 10 RBI during that span. The man cannot be stopped offensively. 

Murakami has 13 of his RBI off right-handed pitchers, and he’ll be up against Mike Soroka today. The righty has allowed six earned runs across his last two starts, and Murakami is also batting .288 off right-handed hurlers with seven of his 10 home runs. 

• Time: 3:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CHSN, DBacks.TV

Jacob deGrom Over 6.5 strikeouts (-136)

Jacob deGrom is still one of the best in the sport when healthy, and he’s showing it this season. The veteran has a 2.29 ERA through four starts, striking out 25 in 19 2/3 innings of work.

He’s hit the over in Ks in two of his outings in ‘26, and there’s reason to believe he’ll rack up the swings-and-misses today. 

The Texas Rangers take on the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are 22nd in team strikeouts with nine per game. deGrom has 28 Ks in 81 at-bats against them. He had six strikeouts in his lone start at home this year.

• Time: 8:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SNP, RSN

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Pirates 8, Rangers 4

• Well, that was some unpleasantness.
• Jack Leiter was really good. Until he wasn’t.
• Leiter allowed a first inning run, on a two out Bryan Reynolds double followed by a Marcell Ozuna single, but those were the only two hits he allowed through four innings. He needed just 20 pitches to get through the first nine batters of the game.
• Once the Pirates turned the lineup over, though, the at bats started getting longer and longer. Leiter needed 16 pitches to get the final two outs of the third, including an 11 pitch at bat to end the inning when he struck out Brandon Lowe. In the fourth, he needed 19 pitches, including a nine pitch at bat against Bryan Reynolds and a seven pitch walk to Ryan O’Hearn.
• Still, things seemed to be going fine, and Leiter seemed to be in position to go six, maybe seven innings.
• The Pirates went single-K-walk (on 8 pitches)-K to start the fifth, and retiring Brandon Lowe for the third out would preserve the Rangers’ 2-1 lead.
• But no. Lowe singled home a run. Then Bryan Reynolds singled to right, scoring a run, and Brandon Nimmo made a terrible throw back into the infield that Leiter fell and twisted his ankle trying to back up, allowing Lowe to score all the way from first.
• Leiter looked like he might be seriously injured on the play, which would have made things catastrophic. Somehow, though, he was well enough to finish the inning, retiring Ozuna on a fly out.
• Final line for Leiter was five innings, four runs, three earned, five Ks, 15 whiffs, two walks. He now has a 4.97 ERA on the year.
• The surprisingly effective Tyler Alexander gave the Rangers two innings of scoreless relief, followed by a shutout inning from Gavin Collyer. When the Rangers tied the score in the bottom of the eighth, Skip Schumaker turned to Cole Winn to keep the game tied.
• Things didn’t work out. A weakly hit single and a hard hit single put runners on the corners with no one out. A strikeout was followed by a weak chopper to third base that Josh Jung made a less than great throw home on, and it was now 5-4 with two on and one out. Jalen Beeks was brought in to face Oneil Cruz, and Cruz crushed a middle-middle cutter that bounced off the top of the right field foul pole.
• And that was church.
• Offensively, the Rangers got a two run home run by Josh Jung in the bottom of the second, Joc Pederson having walked to lead off the inning, then did a whole bunch of nothing until the eighth inning, when Andrew McCutchen led off with a pinch hit single, Brandon Nimmo doubled, and then Jake Burger singled them home to tie the game at four.
• That was exciting, at least, though the excitement was short-lived.
• It was a frustrating game. And put the Rangers back at .500, and a half-game back in the A.L. West behind Oakland, even though those shit-ass A’s lost.
• Jack Leiter hit 98.5 mph with his fastball, averaging 96.9 mph. Tyler Alexander hit 92.0 mph with his fastball. Gavin Collyer hit 97.5 mph with his fastball. Cole Winn’s fastball topped out at 96.3 mph. Jalen Beeks reached 94.7 mph with his fastball.
• Brandon Nimmo had a 108.3 mph double and a 102.9 mph ground out. Evan Carter had a 101.9 mph single.
• Texas can still take the series on Thursday. Let’s get that rubber game win.

Through the early part of the season the Pittsburgh Pirates have been enjoying a lot of success, with a lot of credit going to their transformed lineup. At 14-10 the Buccos offseason moves are already paying off as they are in the top ten of the latest MLB Power Rankings.

Brandon Lowe was the headliner in the Pirates’ trade with the Tampa Bay Rays in December, and that move was an immediate upgrade for Pittsburgh’s revolving door of temporary second basemen. With Lowe the Pirates got a top ten second baseman in baseball who is a huge power threat. The 31-year-old has consistently been one of the best hitters in baseball since his first major league season in 2018. Aside from his rookie season and his injury shortened 2022 season, Lowe has never hit less than 10 homers in a year. In 2021 Lowe had a career high 39 homers.

Lowe’s start to 2026 has been very productive. He’s currently slashing .267/.375/.600 and already has seven homers. Lowe has been a bright spot in Pittsburgh’s lineup, and “Bam Bam” looks to keep on knocking in runs.

Jake Mangum was another part of the Tampa Bay trade, and while his Major League career is largely just getting started, he has already proven to be a spark plug when he’s on the field. With the Pirates, the 30-year-old outfielder has played primarily in a platoon role, appearing in 18 games so far. 2025 was his first season in the Majors and he showed to be a player with a knack for contact hitting and speed on the base pads, totaling 27 stolen bases and a .296 batting average with the Rays.

This year with the Pirates, Mangum has appeared primarily in left field and has a perfect fielding percentage. In his 18 games Mangum has performed consistently with a .300 batting average, 15 hits and three steals.

For the first time in a decade, the Pirates signed a free-agent to a multi-year contract when they signed Ryan O’Hearn to a two-year $29 million contract. Coming off of his first All-Star season, O’Hearn provides another veteran bat to a lineup that was in desperate need of a makeover. The Sam Houston State product is off to arguably his best start to a season in his career. He is currently ranked in the top ten in the National League for batting average, on base percentage and on base plus slugging percentage.

In the bigger picture of Pittsburgh baseball, O’Hearn represents the fact that the Pirates are making a conscious effort to build a winning team. O’Hearn had multiple suitors in free-agency, but him choosing Pittsburgh signifies the belief he has in the team and the culture that the organization is trying to now build. It’s very possible that this signing proves to be very impactful for the future of the franchise.

The last big signing that the Pirates made in the winter was the addition of Marcell Ozuna to serve as the team’s primary designated hitter. The 35-year-old DH is a three-time All-Star, a one-time Gold Glove defender and a two-time Silver Slugger. Despite his age Ozuna brought a pedigree to the Pirates that was more impressive than most of their signings in recent history. With that being said, Ozuna has largely looked past his prime. To start the season, he has mostly looked lost at the plate, and has been more of a liability than a point of strength for the team.

Despite the slow start that Ozuna has had, he is starting to turn things around. Ozuna’s first homer with the Pirates was a three-run blast that tied the contest against the Nationals on April 16. Against the Rays on April 18, “The Big Bear” looked like he had come out of hibernation by hammering a two run dinger to extend the Pirates’ lead. Is Ozuna the player that he used to be? Likely no. Father Time makes no exceptions. Is he heating up? He has certainly looked better at the plate, where even his shortcomings are looking productive. Though he’s not the player he used to be, Ozuna can still provide meaningful offense for this Pirates squad.

The Pirates still have a long season ahead of them, but to this point their offseason spending has really worked out as we are seeing the most exciting version of the Buccos in quite some time.

As our own Jason Paczkowski indicated early Thursday morning, the Brewers’ High-A Wisconsin affiliate had their game called in the eighth inning on Wednesday night after a player reportedly collapsed in the dugout. While no details have been confirmed to this point, the belief is that the collapsed player is Brewer No. 2 prospect and MLB No. 21 prospect Luis Peña.

The incident occurred while athletic training staff members were checking out Timber Rattlers catcher Marco Dinges after a pitch deflected off his knee. In the video below, you’ll see the Fort Wayne TinCaps third base coach signal for medics after something happened in the Timber Rattlers dugout.

While no confirmation has been made about whether it was in fact Peña, unconfirmed reports say he was rushed to the hospital. He was reportedly stable and responsive as of midnight. Regardless of who the player is, we wish them a speedy recovery.

UPDATE: It was reported by Adam McCalvy on Thursday morning that the player was, in fact, Luis Peña. McCalvy added that Brewer GM Matt Arnold indicated it was an overheating issue, and Peña was transferred to the hospital for IV fluids. He’s reportedly doing better. Seems like a best-case scenario, all things considered.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers look to avoid a sweep at the hands of the rival San Francisco Giants in Thursday’s matinee series finale. 

It’s a pitcher’s delight with Tyler Glasnow taking the ball for the visitors and Logan Webb getting the call for the home team. 

My Dodgers vs. Giants predictions and MLB picks see the Boys in Blue avoiding the sweep this afternoon.

Who will win Dodgers vs Giants today: Dodgers (-154)

We’re getting value on the Los Angeles Dodgers for two reasons: they dropped the first two games of the series and will be facing ace Logan Webb.

The San Francisco Giants have plated a total of six runs in their last three games, however, so it's not like this recent success is very repeatable. Their 76 wRC+ against right-handed pitching is a concern, while L.A. leads the league in that category (130). 

Webb (5.40 ERA, 4.42 xERA) is allowing too much hard contact (eighth percentile hard-hit rate) again. Tyler Glasnow, meanwhile, has been deadly (2.62 xERA, 2.58 FIP).

COVERS INTEL: Logan Webb has struggled against the Dodgers, posting a 4.47 ERA and 1.33 WHIP across 108+ innings against his rivals. He's surrendered an .855 OPS to their projected lineup.

Dodgers vs Giants Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (-139)

The first two games of this series cruised to the Under with a total of seven runs crossing the plate in 18 innings. With two quality starting pitchers on the bump, here’s betting on another low-scoring contest. 

Glasnow ranks in the 80th percentile or above in xERA, strikeout rate, and walk rate. His elite 24.2 K-BB% will play at Oracle Park, a venue where Webb has a career 2.90 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. 

The Dodgers have cashed the Under in six of their last eight road games and are playing in a pitcher-friendly park with temperatures in the low-60s.

Dodgers vs Giants odds

• Moneyline: Dodgers -160 | Giants +135
• Run line: Dodgers -1.5 (+115) | Giants +1.5 (-135)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 | Under 7.5

Dodgers vs Giants trend

The Dodgers are 4-0 in Tyler Glasnow's four starts this season. Find more MLB betting trends for Dodgers vs. Giants.

How to watch Dodgers vs Giants and game info

Dodgers vs Giants latest injuries

Dodgers vs Giants weather

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The Phillies are a mess right now. You know it. I know it. They know it. To paraphrase the great Yogi Berra, it’s getting late early. You cannot win a division or a pennant in April, but you can certainly lose one. And you can do that by doing things like winning two of your last 15 games and losing seven games in a row like the Phillies have done entering play yesterday.

When things are going this poorly, especially early on in the season, the discussion is usually dominated by what needs to be done to try and find a spark. Naturally, the first thing that comes up is a managerial change. Rob Thomson is not at fault for all of the Phillies’ failings, but everything comes into question with a putrid start such as this one. Firing a manager this early into the season rarely if ever works out, but it’s the first lever to pull that gets considered. We of course have the example of Joe Girardi’s firing in recent Phillies history, but that didn’t happen until June 3rd. The 2022 Phillies were 22-29 when Girardi was given the boot. Forty to fifty or so games are usually how long a team waits until making such a move. Firing a manger in April is usually viewed as a panic move and in this case would be a black mark against a front office that just extended their manager four months ago, but all options are on the table. 

The other coaching change option that could be considered is hitting coach Kevin Long. Long has been with the team since 2022 and has frequently come under fire from the fanbase due to the offense’s tendency to underperform or fall into a malaise. He’s considered one of the better hitting coaches in the sport and is well respected around the game. He has a definitive track record of helping players, with Kyle Schwarber being his star pupil, but he has helped players such as Brandon Marsh improve their game. However, Long has also overseen an offense that has disappeared in the postseason multiple times and is off to a historically bad start to 2026. It is rarely, if ever, the hitting coach’s fault, as he simply cannot change what a player is at his core, even if he can help with adjustments and tweaks. But the hitting coach is usually the favorite scapegoat for a team whose offense is nonexistent. 

There’s much less to be done about the actual players on the roster at this juncture. Rosters across baseball are very inflexible at this point in the season, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t options. The team could release Taijuan Walker to show some sense of urgency, but he is hardly the only problem with the pitching staff. Releasing him now would be easier than in the past as it is the last year of his contract and maybe it would send some kind of message. On the offense side, there’s really not a whole lot that can be done besides benching. Theoretically, maybe a surprise demotion could be on the table for someone like Alec Bohm or Bryson Stott, but they have earned the right to refuse an assignment to the minor leagues thanks to five years of MLB service time, so it’s extremely unlikely. Otherwise, we’ve already seen multiple lineup changes and even a surprise promotion with Felix Reyes, and nothing has worked. 

So, is it time for the Phillies to do something drastic? If so, what lever would you pull?

The Cubs have found many different ways to win during their current eight-game winning streak.

Blowouts (three straight games with 10+ runs). Extra-inning thrillers (over the Mets on Sunday). Winning despite leaving 17 on base (Tuesday).

And Wednesday, a home run by a player who’s been struggling at the plate helped galvanize the offense. Michael Busch’s homer gave the Cubs a two-run lead in the third. Seiya Suzuki also homered and the Cubs got solid pitching and defense again and won for the eighth consecutive time, 7-2 over the Phillies, who, not coincidentally, lost their eighth in a row.

Matthew Boyd breezed through the first and then the Cubs got on the board right away in the bottom of the inning. Nico Hoerner led off the game with a single and went to third on a single by Alex Bregman.

Ian Happ hit into a force play, with Nico scoring [VIDEO].

Boyd got in trouble in the second. Three Phillies hits gave the visitors a 2-1 lead.

The Cubs got that run right back in the bottom of the inning — and here again, we see the value of defense, or lack thereof. With two out, Miguel Amaya lifted a fly ball to short center. Three Phillies converged on the ball, and it wasn’t real windy so they can’t blame the weather. Phillies center fielder Justin Crawford just dropped it, the ball glancing off his glove. Amaya, hustling, made it to second.

A double by Pete Crow-Armstrong tied tie game [VIDEO].

Boyd had an easier third, allowing a baserunner on a rare throwing error by Dansby Swanson. The Cubs then took the lead for good. Alex Bregman hit a ball off the front of the basket in left-center and got to third. A review confirmed that the ball was in play, missing a home run by inches [VIDEO].

Bregman scored on this single by Happ [VIDEO].

Suzuki then hit into a double play, but Busch smacked a ball out of the yard to make it 4-2 [VIDEO].

That was a long time coming for Busch, who led the Cubs with 34 homers last year (and eight more in eight postseason games). It happened in his 95th plate appearance of the season. Last year Busch hit five home runs in his first 95 PA. Sometimes good hitters go through slumps like this. I think Busch will be just fine; hitting that first long ball often helps hitters break out.

Boyd was removed with two out in the fifth after inducing a double-play ball. He threw 84 pitches (56 strikes), didn’t walk anyone and struck out five. It wasn’t a great outing, but wasn’t a bad one either, considering he was coming off an injury. Same feeling about Boyd as about Busch: He’ll be just fine.

The Cubs then broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth. Bregman singled, his third hit of the game, another guy starting to heat up (last 11 games: .340/.407/.426 with two doubles, a triple and six walks). Bregman was forced at second by Happ, but Suzuki followed with this home run, his second in as many days [VIDEO].

It’s useful to remember that Suzuki missed much of the WBC and Spring Training with the knee injury suffered in a WBC game. He had only 17 PA in his rehab assignment and now has 52 PA in MLB games this year. So up to now, he was still getting the reps he missed in Mesa. This is another really good hitter who’ll be just fine.

It’s now 6-2 Cubs and Ben Brown, who relieved Boyd, threw 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out five. Seems to me Brown has found his role on this team — multi-inning reliever. He now has 20 strikeouts in 19 innings, with just one home run allowed this year. Good stuff from Ben. Corbin Martin threw a 1-2-3 eighth.

The Cubs added one more run in the bottom of the eighth. Moisés Ballesteros led off with a double (and FWIW, this was just the fifth time this year that Ballesteros played the entire game). He went to third on a ground out and scored on this PCA single [VIDEO].

PCA is also heating up. Last eight games: .345/.424/.483 (10-for-29) with two doubles and a triple. This is just in time for the Cubs to go to Dodger Stadium, where PCA is a lifetime .333/.320/.708 hitter (8-for-24 with a double, a triple and two home runs). All together now: “He’ll be just fine.”

Hoby Milner entered the game to finish things off. He allowed a leadoff single but then got the next two hitters. He ran a 1-2 count on Rafael Marchán and then a Milner pitch was called ball two.

Amaya immediately challenged that call [VIDEO].

And so, we witnessed a first Wednesday at Wrigley — the Cubs’ first-ever ABS walk-off!

The Cubs have outscored their opponents 58-20 during the eight-game winning streak (and conversely, the Phillies have been outscored 56-16 during their eight-game loss streak) and this time, they did get RISP hitting — 3-for-9 — and left just seven on base. The Reds lost Wednesday so the Cubs are alone in second place in the NL Central, half a game out of the top spot. More on the Cubs’ streak from BCB’s JohnW53:

The Cubs have won seven straight home games, beginning with their 7-6 walk-off against the Pirates on April 12. They had not won seven in a row at home since July 26-Aug. 13, 2020. They also had two seven-game streaks in 2018. Their last eight-game streak at home was Sept. 12-30, 2017. Shortly before that, Aug. 18-Sept. 2, they had won nine in a row.
…
The Cubs have won their last five games vs. the Phillies, their longest such streak since they won six July 22-Sept. 29, 2022. They also won six in 1995 and 1985. They also won five in 1986, 1982 and 1973. Their last streak of more than six was seven, May 1-July 16, 1971.

Lastly on streaks: This is the Cubs’ longest April winning streak since they reeled off 11 in a row from April 14-27, 1970.

The Cubs could move into a first-place tie with a ninth consecutive win Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field. It will not be easy, as the Phillies’ best starter (and one of the league’s best, too) Cristopher Sánchez will start for the visitors. Edward Cabrera, who’s also been very good this year, goes for the Cubs. Game time is 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

Question is pretty much in the title. How dare they make JR Ritchie’s debut a mid-week day game? Oh, their hand was forced by the Nationals’ nigh-inexorable offense? Well, okay then.

It’s a bit of a double-whammy for me today. You probably don’t know this, but today is St. George’s Day, and I’m personally a big fan of the Catalan version. For the last few years, I’ve been sneaking out to grab books and roses for my wife and kids every April 23. It was easier in past years due to various circumstances, but today there’s a standard slate of work and Ritchie’s debut. Thank St. George for modern technology, where I can just have it on MLB.tv on my phone if I do manage to sneak out, I guess!

(The funny thing is, I’ve doing this for a few years now, and no one seems to remember that it’s every April 23. It’s always a surprise, and I have to explain it each time. Maybe it’s more whimsical that way?)

Anyway, are you celebrating Ritchie’s debut with being less productive? Or is it the grindstone and highlights for you given the awkward timing of today’s 1:05 pm ET start?

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The dominant Tarik Skubal takes the ball in the rubber match today against the Milwaukee Brewers, as the Detroit Tigers look to win the finale. 

Behind Skubal, my Brewers vs. Tigers predictions and MLB picks call for Detroit to walk away with a convincing victory. 

Who will win Brewers vs Tigers today: Tigers -1.5 (+100)

Following Wednesday’s 5-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, the Detroit Tigers are now 9-2 at home this season. They’ve covered the run line in eight of those games at Comerica Park. Tarik Skubal takes the hill today, and he’s always lights out. 

The lefty has a 2.08 ERA so far, and he’s allowed just two earned across his last two outings. Across 40 at-bats against this Milwaukee lineup, Skubal has held them to a .140 average, while striking out 16.

The Tigers have covered the run line in two of Skubal’s four starts this season. In his only home start, Detroit won 8-2. The hosts are also set to face Brandon Sproat, who has a 6.88 ERA. Although he’s calmed down over his last two appearances, Sproat gave up four earned runs in his last road start. 

COVERS INTEL: Tarik Skubal owns an impressive 2.09 FIP this season, and he's also struck out 33 batters in 30 1/3 innings.

Brewers vs Tigers Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (-145)

When Skubal is on the bump, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that he won’t be giving up many runs. This Tigers bullpen was also phenomenal on Wednesday after Casey Mize exited, allowing just one run across three innings.

Sprout has surrendered only two runs across his last two starts for Milwaukee. While he’s not as good on the road, the 25-year-old is starting to find some confidence. Detroit has never faced him, but I do expect them to score some runs, as they’re a much better team at home.

However, it won’t be a ton, and Skubal will limit the Brew Crew to crumbs offensively. The Under will cash as these bullpens hold it down late once again. 

Brewers vs Tigers odds

• Moneyline: Brewers +190 | Tigers -210
• Run line: Brewers +1.5 (-120) | Tigers -1.5 (+105)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 | Under 7.5

Brewers vs Tigers trend

The Tigers have covered the run line in eight of their last 12 home games for +7.1 units and a 53% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Brewers vs. Tigers.

How to watch Brewers vs Tigers and game info

Brewers vs Tigers latest injuries

Brewers vs Tigers weather

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Before Tuesday’s game against the Yankees, Sam Kennedy joined Tom Caron on the NESN pregame show and gave us the following answer when asked about the team’s lack of power:

“We gotta start hitting the ball out of the ballpark. I think a lot of guys are gonna start to heat up. I was actually talking to folks from the other side, and they said after this cold weather you’re gonna see a lot more home runs. They hit a lot of home runs last week when it was 80 degrees in New York City. So let’s get a little home cooking, a little warm weather, and hopefully we get going.”

Moments later, the game began with a first pitch temperature of 47 degrees, and in the top of the second inning, Giancarlo Stanton did this:

It’s a good thing it wasn’t 80 degrees, right Sam? Otherwise that ball might have gone 500 feet. Really dodged a bullet on that one!

See, the problem isn’t just that the Red Sox don’t hit the ball out of the park when it’s cold, it’s that they don’t do anything well when it’s cold! If it’s so hard to hit for power when the mercury is low, why is Garrett Crochet giving up bombs to the Tigers? Or going back to the previous homestand, why was the defense throwing the ball all over the place against the Padres in the cold? This isn’t a reflection on the bad weather. It’s a reflection of how the Red Sox play in bad weather.

Here’s the reality: Is it harder to hit home runs in cold weather? Yes. But it’s also harder to pitch, field, grip the ball, maintain focus and get warmed up. The only way it becomes easier to do these things is if your opponent is soft and bothered by these conditions. And guess what? The Red Sox are that opponent.

Over the last three seasons, Boston is now 7-17 in the 24 games they’ve played with a first pitch temperature at 50 degrees or below (with one exception, which we’ll get to in a moment). That’s an abysmal .292 wining percentage, and would extrapolate out to a 47-115 record over a 162 game season.

But the play in cooler conditions isn’t just bad overall, it’s specifically getting worse by the year. So far in 2026, the Sox are sporting a vile 2-8 record in these circumstances. Here’s how it breaks down in detail over the last three seasons:

(Eagle eyed readers might notice I’m actually missing a game from the 2026 sample, and that’s the exception I mentioned above. Technically, the Marathon Monday match up belongs on this list with a first pitch temperature of 47 degrees, but I removed it because with the 11am start time, temperatures were actually rising through the 50s as the game progressed. In other words, it’s not comparable to your 1:30pm afternoon starts where the first pitch temperature will be close to the high for the day; and it’s the exact opposite of your evening April starts where it will keep getting colder as the game goes on. So for the spirit of this exercise, I dropped it from the analysis.)

There are two schools of thought you can take from the tables above: One is it doesn’t really matter as once you get beyond April, you just don’t see many more of these games. (Even October averages a full six degrees warmer than April in Boston.)

The other perspective? The cold weather data provides an early window into the team’s “give a damn” meter. In a sport where everything has to be at least partially tailored to surviving the grueling season, it would be so, so easy for any player to get in these conditions, conclude “yeah, this sucks!” and let go of the rope mentally for the evening knowing they’ve got 150 more games to iron things out.

This is where I’d like to bring everybody’s attention to the April 7th through April 10th games in the 2025 table above. That was a four game series at frigid Fenway against Toronto. And despite coming in as a dome team, the Blue Jays nearly swept the Sox. This is even more impressive when you consider that the Red Sox were really solid at Fenway in 2025, going an imposing 48-33. But it was Toronto who proved better at dealing with adversity from Mother Nature in Boston — and this is of course noteworthy because the Blue Jays ended up going all the way to Game 7 of the World Series. Perhaps that series in Fenway was just a little glimpse into their DNA, and a harbinger of what was to come.

Meanwhile, here was Alex Cora’s quote from the middle of that series explaining why his pitchers didn’t throw well in the first two games.

“I went out to the mound twice and I felt it. It was windy too. In the dugout it was OK, but then you go out there and it’s tough,”

Need more evidence about the barometer that is Fenway Park in April and its relationship to the season as a whole? Let’s look at the Red Sox record through 30 games in their four most recent World Series championship seasons:

2004: 19-11

2007: 20-10

2013: 20-10

2018: 22-8

I won’t overwhelm you with more tables about specific games, but the pattern here is overwhelmingly clear. When the Red Sox win the World Series, they come storming out of the gate despite dealing with the Fenway’s early chill. All four of these teams posted a higher winning percentage in their first 30 games than they did over the 162 game season, and I think that’s at least in part due to the fact that they were just more ready to go than their opponents. So when that hideous east wind kicked up off the Gulf of Maine and made conditions miserable at Fenway, they were more adept to deal with it, and it turned into an advantage.

(Funny how that happened in the era where the team appeared more championship driven and less profit driven, private equity driven, and return on investment driven. It’s almost as if the culture trickles from the top down.)

Lastly, I think it’s worth discussing what makes Fenway’s early season cold unique and why it may provide a better litmus test of which teams have the most moxie compared to pretty much any other location. Sure, it’s a northern city, which is probably the first direction that comes to mind when thinking about cold air, but what really separates Fenway in this conversation from all the other ballparks is that it’s so far to the east. This means it both sticks out into the ocean, and is on the front lines when the wind has any inkling of blowing off it. Just take a look at the temperatures yesterday when the wind was out of the south and notice how New England is the only area in the northeast and Great Lakes that didn’t benefit from that.

But the connections between Fenway, April, and cold ocean water run much deeper than you might ever imagine. The park opened in April of 1912, the same week the Titanic sank in icebergf waters — But perhaps even more amazing; the Titanic wreck site is on a latitude line located slightly SOUTH of Boston (41°43 N compared to Fenway’s 42°34 N).

As it turns out, that same Labrador Current that comes down from the Arctic and sends icebergs along the east side of Canada’s waters ends up turning west before flowing in the Gulf of Maine, where it waits for the chance to blow into Fenway Park before things warm up later in spring.

Even to this day, you can look at a sea surface temperature map and see how this plays out:

The is all a long way of saying that the uniqueness of this phenomenon should be an advantage for the Red Sox! Sam Kennedy spoke about how it was already 80 degrees in New York for the Yankees a few times this season, and that’s just not going to happen very often for the Red Sox in April. Instead, this period should be used each year as an opportunity for the guys to get close, learn to play for each other, and tough it out for the betterment of the group. It’s not going to be pleasant, but that’s the point. If done successfully, it means you have a little something extra inside the walls of the clubhouse for when those warmer and brighter days inevitably do show up and you’re tested in other ways.

Unfortunately, the 2026 Red Sox completely failed this assignment. Now, they’re going to have to buck a 9-15 start, and the weight of history working against them. Unless they’re made of much sterner stuff than they appear, that’s going to be a much more difficult task to play through than the cold air they just endured.

Toledo Mud Hens 8, Omaha Storm Chasers 2 (box)

The Mud Hens bashed four home runs in support of Ty Madden and cruised to victory over the Storm Chasers on Wednesday.

Madden got himself into a jam with some walks in the top of the first, but escaped with just a run allowed. He went on to blank them through three more innings before turning it over to the bullpen.

The Mud Hens seized control in the bottom of the second against RHP Aaron Sanchez, who at 33 years old refuses to give up. Some may remember the excellent start to his major league career with the Blue Jays a decade ago. Corey Julks and Jace Jung, unlike Pepperridge Farms neither remember nor care, and they blasted back-to-back solo shots to lead off the inning.

In the third, Ben Malgeri cracked a solo shot to leadoff that inning. 3-1 Hens.

Tyler Mattison took over from Madden in the fifth. He was a little wild, and a Luke Ritter error contributed to a run scoring, but Mattison limited the damage. 3-2 Hens.

Finally in the fifth the Hens pulled away for keeps. Max Clark led off the inning by reaching on an error and Gage Workman ripped a single to right field. Julks stepped in and smoked a line drive to left for a two-run double that made it 5-2. That was the end of Sanchez’s outing.

Ethan Bosacker took over for Omaha and promptly walked Jung. A Tyler Gentry single loaded the bases and Tomas Nido walked to make it 8-2. Ritter lifted a sacrifice fly to score Jung for a 7-1 lead.

Malgeri would lead off the bottom of the eighth with his second solo shot of the day and his third homer of the season.

Scott Effross returned from rehab with a clean inning of relief. Ricky Vanasco, who I referred to as Ricky Nolasco like a maniac in an article yesterday, remained untouchable with a clean inning and a strikeout, maintaining his 0.00 ERA. Brenan Hanifee closed it out with no issues.

If it feels like Max Clark watch has been quiet, he looks fine and hasn’t been striking out. He just hasn’t been racking up the hits or doing much damage the past few games.

Julks: 3-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B, HR, K

Malgeri: 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR, 2 K

Jung: 1-4, 2 R, RBI, HR, BB, 2 K

Madden: 4.0 IP, ER, 2 H, 4 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start in Toledo on Thursday with the series tied at a game apiece.

Erie SeaWolves 8, Binghamton Rumble Ponies 1 (box)

Kenny Serwa threw his first good game of the season, and the offense took advantage of some wildness from the Ponies to win easily on Wednesday.

Serwa got himself into a bit of a jam in the bottom of the first, but the knuckleballer worked through it without surrendering a run. Then his teammates got to work in the top of the second.

Chris Meyers singled with one out, and Izaac Pacheco drew a walk. An Andrew Jenkins ground out advanced the runners but it didn’t matter as E.J. Exposito cranked a three-run shot, his third of the year, for an early lead. Singles from Brett Callahan, Justice Bigbie, and Meyers produced another run in the third. 4-0 SeaWolves.

Serwa leaked a run in the bottom of the fourth but he handled the fifth without issue and put together a really good outing overall.

A sacrifice fly from Callahan scored Seth Stephenson in the seventh, and in the eighth, a pair of walks to Bigbie and Meyers were cashed in by a Pacheco two-run double. A ground out got Pacheco to third where an Exposito fly out was deep enough to score him and make it 8-1.

Moises Rodriguez was strong in two scoreless innings of relief, while Tyler Owens struck out three across the eighth and ninth to wrap this one up.

Meyers: 3-3, 2 R, RBI, BB, CS

Exposito: 1-2, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR, BB, K

Pacheco: 1-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B, 2 BB, K

Serwa (W, 1-3): 5.0 IP, ER, 4 H, BB, 6 K

Coming Up Next: First pitch is set at 6:07 p.m. ET on Thursday as the SeaWolves hold a 2-0 lead in the best of six series.

West Michigan Whitecaps 7, Lake County Captains 1 (box)

Junior Tilien’s three-run shot early on was plenty as Hayden Minton and the Whitecaps’ pitching staff had the Captains well under control on Wednesday.

Minton got into some trouble in the second, but a potential RBI double that instead went for a ground rule double from the lead runner at third, and Minton escaped the inning unscathed.

In the bottom half, Nolan McCarthy walked, and Juan Hernandez singled with two outs. Tilien stepped in and blasted a drive to left to make it a 3-0 game.

Minton dug himself a deep hole in the top of the third and was lucky to escape with only one run allowed. He eventually gave way to RHP Duque Hebbert in the fourth, and Hebbert had no trouble getting them through the fifth with the score 3-1.

In the bottom of the third, Ricardo Hurtado and Garrett Pennington singled, and McCarthy eventually singled in Hurtado, though Pennington was cut down trying to score. 4-1 Whitecaps.

In the fifth, Pennington doubled with one out and Cristian Santana drove a deep drive to right field that was briefly misplayed into an RBI triple. 5-1 Whitecaps.

Zack Lee handled the sixth and seventh in relief without any issues. In the bottom of the seventh, Hurtado and Santana walked. With two outs, Clayton Campbell doubled both runners in to make it 7-1.

Logan Berrier tossed the final two frames with no trouble to lock this one up.

Pennington: 2-4, R, 2B, 2 K

Santana: 1-3, R, RBI, 3B, BB, K

Tilien: 1-4, R, 3 RBI, HR, K

Minton: 3.1 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Thursday with the series knotted at a game apiece.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 6, Tampa Tarpons 0 (box)

Lefty Ben Jacobs was excellent yet again, and the Flying Tigers broke through for one big inning to win again on Wednesday, running their record to 12-5.

Jacobs looked really good despite recording only three strikeouts in five innings of work. The rookie attacked the zone relentlessly with a well commanded mix of fourseamers, sinkers, and sliders, recording nine whiffs on 35 swings. The fourseamer continues to display really nice riding action, and the Tarpons were only able to manage two hits, while Jacobs didn’t walk a batter.

The Flying Tigers had a few chances to score but didn’t manage to cash any of them in until the seventh inning. Anibal Salas led off that inning with a missile to center field for a triple. Jordan Yost took a called strike three, but Jesus Pinto walked and Thayron Liranzo, who did have two more hits in this one as the DH, was hit by a pitch. Jack Goodman singled in two runs, and then Beau Ankeney was hit by a pitch to reload the bases. Carson Rucker struck out, and the Tarpons brought in Brian Arias in reilef of Jordarlin Mendoza, looking to escape the inning.

They would not escape, as Javier Osorio singled in two runs, Sergio Tapia singled in Ankeney, and then Osorio and Tapia pulled off a double steal and the Tarpons catcher threw the ball away, scoring Osorio to make it 6-0. Salas followed by drawing a walk, but Yost struck out swinging to end the inning.

Donye Evans and Luke Hoskins cleaned up the final 3 1/3 innings with no real trouble to put this one away.

Osorio: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, SB

Liranzo: 2-3, R, BB, K

Salas: 1-1, R, 3B, BB

Pinto: 1-3, R, 2 BB, K, SB

Yost: 0-4, 2 K

Jacobs: 5.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Thursday.

After falling into a rut in the middle of April, the Yankees starting rotation has righted the ship in its last turn. Since the start of the series against the Royals, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, Ryan Weathers, Luis Gil, and Max Fried all authored some of the best starts of their Yankees careers. After Fried’s gem against the Red Sox on Wednesday, their starting staff stood atop the MLB heap in both ERA and fWAR. However, it’s Gil’s start the evening before that we’re going to focus on for this week’s installation in Sequence of the Week.

Gil entered the series opener on Tuesday coming off a pair of mediocre performances against the Rays and Angels. He had given up seven runs in nine innings (7.00 ERA) including an unsightly four home runs. With the returns of Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón from their elbow surgery rehabs looming on the horizon, you felt that Gil’s days in the rotation, and indeed on the major league roster, were numbered.

We join Gil with two outs in the second, the Yankees out to an early 1-0 lead courtesy of a Giancarlo Stanton moonshot over the Green Monster. Marcelo Mayer stands on second following a two out double, so Gil has to lock in here to prevent the Red Sox from immediately answering.

Gil had been spraying his four-seamer wildly through the first seven batters he faced. This fact combined with the need for a damage-mitigating pitch is likely behind Austin Wells’ decision to call for a first pitch sinker here.

Really good execution of the sinker here from Gil. It’s just an inch or two off the corner low and away — a call that could have gone either way but is given as ball one. He may have missed the zone with the previous pitch, but it was executed the way he wanted so there is no reason to get scared off the sinker.

This time the sinker lands squarely in the zone for a called strike one. Durbin must be hunting something inside, because he’s not even interested in offering at this heater that catches a lot of the plate. Perhaps Gil and Wells pick up on this, because they go right back to the well looking to execute a third straight sinker to the outer half.

Some excellent framing from Wells earns a generous strike two call. I’m surprised Durbin doesn’t challenge this pitch given the situation — you can see he isn’t impressed with the call but hesitates after Boston burned one of their ABS challenges earlier.

After three straight sinkers away, Gil has the situation perfectly set up for a changeup below the zone hunting the inning-ending strikeout.

What a great pitch for the strikeout! Gil perfectly executes this changeup over the plate but below the zone to induce the chase and whiff. This pitch looks like a strike for so long before diving downward at the last moment. It’s not just Gil’s command of the pitch to that spot that is impressive but his ability to tunnel it with the sinker he threw right before.

Out of the hand and for about half of it’s path toward home, the changeup looks a lot like the sinker that immediately preceded it for a called strike. In Durbin’s mind, he cannot take this pitch out of fear that he will get punched out on exactly the same pitch that put him in the two-strike hole.

Here’s the full sequence:

Though still not close to his AL Rookie of the Year form in 2024, Gil demonstrated several encouraging signs in this start. I support the increased sinker usage. Gil dropped his arm slot last season to compensate for the lat injury he suffered preseason — this robs his four-seamer of its riding life and is better suited for throwing a sinker (plus he generally exhibits better command of sinker vs. four-seamer). I also loved a handful of the changeups he threw in this game. As Joe Girardi mentioned on the broadcast, the changeup seems to be Gil’s go-to pitch to reset his mechanics, allowing him to find the right release point when he starts getting wild with the fastball and slider.

That being said, Gil’s name is likely the first on the chopping block once Rodón returns in the coming weeks. His floor is just so much lower than the other starters who are candidates to be displaced from the rotation. The main issues for Gil are command and a limited repertoire. His walk rate of 12.3-percent is almost double the next-worst starter in the rotation. His ERA is a run higher than anyone else and his 7.32 FIP more than double the next-worst mark. His primary competition — Will Warren and Ryan Weathers — both possess deeper arsenals with at least five pitches each that they trust. Gil on the other hand rarely has all three of his pitches in fastball, slider, and changeup working for him when he starts, reducing him to a two-pitch and even sometimes a one-pitch pitcher. The wayward command particularly of his secondaries is a major driver of his plummeting strikeout rate — at 13.8-percent it’s less than half that of Warren and Weathers. All of this combines to result in Gil being the starter who inspires the least confidence when he takes the mound, and the Yankees have just too many good pitchers to justify keeping him in the rotation long term.

If you missed it, the Royals announced they will have a new stadium, and it’ll be at Crown Center.

Phase one of the $3 billion project will cover 85 acres and include a new $1.9 billion ballpark and surrounding ballpark district. The city will contribute $600 million in funding, with previous reporting indicating that will largely come from tax-increment financing, which uses revenues from the project to pay back bonds. Additional money will come from the state of Missouri, using tax credits, with $2 billion in private financing.

The event featured renderings, although Sherman acknowledged they are “conceptual,” adding “There’s a lot of work to do.”

Our Lady of Sorrows, the historic Kansas City church, will be remain next to the new stadium.

The century-old Catholic church, Our Lady of Sorrows, is poised to get a new neighbor: the Kansas City Royals.

Sunday worshippers going to Mass could soon be joined by baseball fans going to their sacred space when the Royals stadium opens in Crown Center.

Bishop James Johnston of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph was in the audience as leaders of the Royals, Hallmark Cards, Kansas City and the state of Missouri announced plans Wednesday morning for a baseball stadium on the site of the current Hallmark headquarters in Crown Center. Construction is expected to start in 2027 on the $3 billion project.

Maikel Garcia left yesterday’s loss in the 6th inning with right elbow soreness.

Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia exited the Royals’ 8-6 loss to the Orioles on Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium in the sixth inning due to right elbow soreness. Garcia will undergo further evaluation in the next few days, although he was already looking forward to playing Friday after Thursday’s team off-day.

Garcia felt something during his second at-bat Wednesday when he popped up to second base but stayed in the game. By the sixth inning, though, it was Nick Loftin running out to third base rather than Garcia.

The Mets ended their 12-game losing streak, topping the Twins 3-2. Francisco Lindor left the game hurt though.

Oneil Cruz hit a laser beam homer off the top of the foul pole against the Rangers.

Shohei Ohtani lowered his ERA to 0.38, but his 53 game on base streak ended against San Francisco.

Mariners starter Logan Gilbert had one of the most improbable things happen to him yesterday

Angels starter José Soriano is off the greatest start in over 100 years, ERA wise.

The Braves are calling up JR Ritchie, their number 2 prospect to start today

The NFL Draft starts tonight.

Your song of the day is Get What You Give by New Radicals

After taking a brief respite from batting while pitching last week at home, two days after getting hit by a pitch in his right shoulder, Shohei Ohtani was back to double duty on Wednesday night against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.

He pitched six more scoreless innings to lead the National League with a 0.38 ERA in 24 innings, but was hitless in four at-bat to snap his on-base streak at 53 games, tied with Shawn Green for the longest in Los Angeles Dodgers history. Ohtani’s hitting stats through the first four weeks this season are down relative to his first two full seasons at the plate in Los Angeles, hitting .258/.382/.472 with a 131 wRC+, still well above average.

So far this season Ohtani has batted 111 times and faced 92 hitters while pitching. His 203 total plate appearances are his heaviest workload during a baseball month since 208 PA in July 2023 while with the Angels. His most total PA in a month was 268, in September 2022 (126 batting, 142 pitching).

Ohtani being a full-go as a pitcher from the start of this season, in addition to his batting, which has improved since joining the Dodgers relative to his Angels days, has Mike Petriello at MLB.com wondering what heights Ohtani might now achieve.

“There’s still one more thing we haven’t seen Ohtani do, and that’s to put it all together for a full season, to marry Peak Batting Ohtani and Peak Pitching Ohtani together, at the same time, for six months,” Petriello wrote.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell, whose contract with Chicago raised the bar for managers ahead of Dave Roberts signing his own extension with Los Angeles, criticized MLB’s two-way player rule on Monday. From ESPN:

“It’s a rule to help offense, I think, more than anything, if you ask me,” Counsell said. “And then there’s one team that’s allowed to carry basically one of both, and that he gets special consideration. Which is probably the most bizarre rule. … For one team.”

Two-way players — those with at least 20 major league innings and at least 20 starts as a position player or designated hitter (with at least three plate appearances in each game) in the current or either of the previous two seasons — do not count against the active roster limit of 13 pitchers. The rule was first agreed to by Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association in March 2019, before Ohtani’s second year with the Angels, for implementation beginning in 2020.

Ohtani has been the only player to qualify for two-way status thus far.

Roberts on Monday night in Denver was asked about Counsell’s comments and had, frankly, an appropriate response. From Max Ralph at MLB.com:

“The thing is it certainly benefits us because we have the player,” Roberts said. “But that’s something that, any team that had Ohtani would have that player. We’re more than willing for other teams to go out and find a player who can do both. He’s an exception because he’s an exceptional player. It is what it is.”

Dodgers host the Cubs this weekend at Dodger Stadium, beginning Friday night in Los Angeles.

Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz had arthroscopic surgery on Wednesday to remove loose bodies in his right elbow, and is expected to miss around three months. You might remember his three-year, $69-million contract signed in December, which included a conditional $6.5 million club option for 2029 “if he has a specified injury through the end of the 2028 season and he does not end the season or postseason healthy, or if he has a specified surgery.”

J.P. Hoornstra for Dodgers on SI reported that Wednesday’s surgery was not the kind of procedure that would trigger the option.