Category: Baseball

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Almost half of the MLB schedule today starts before 1:00 p.m. ET, so we're starting nice and early with our MLB best bets, based on prices available at Polymarket.

Read on to see why our expert MLB picks start by targeting early offense in the first leg of the Astros/Orioles doubleheader, then look at the Reds to roll over a so-so starting pitcher and Arizona to win in a spot it appears mispriced.

MLB expert picks for today

Pick	Odds
Josh Inglis: HOU/BAL YRFI (G1)	-113
Jon Metler: A's ML	-122
Neil Parker: CIN -1.5	+127
Joe Osborne: ARI ML	+117

Prices courtesy of Polymarket.

Josh Inglis' expert pick: Astros/Orioles YRFI (Game 1)

Price: 53¢ (-113) at Polymarket

The total in Game 1 of today’s doubleheader between the Houston Astros and Baltimore Orioles is 9.5, and the YRFI is trading at just -113 — I’m in. This is the best pitching matchup to target for early offense: Chris Bassitt has had issues with Yordan Alvarez, who has taken him deep five times in 22 at-bats. On the other side, Peter Lambert is likely punching above his weight early, and I’m not buying the turnaround after prior struggles. There are command concerns on both sides that point to traffic on the bases early — this sets up well for runs in the opening frame (and throughout the game).

Jon Metler's expert pick: Athletics moneyline

Price: 55¢ (-122) at Polymarket

The Athletics are trading as a 55-cent favorite, and that number is too low — I make them closer to a 61-cent favorite in this spot. Sutter Health Park is a hitter-friendly ballpark, where the ball really carries, and the A's lineup is built to take advantage of that. That’s a major concern for Noah Cameron, the Kansas City Royals’ starting pitcher, who profiles as an extreme fly-ball pitcher. When you have power right-handed bats in the middle of the lineup (such as Shea Langeliers) who thrive against lefties, allowing that many fly balls becomes a dangerous game, especially with the wind blowing out and conditions sitting at a sunny 74 degrees in Sacramento.

Neil Parker's expert pick: Reds -1.5

Price: 44¢ (+127) at Polymarket

The Colorado Rockies rank 22nd in wOBA with the second-highest strikeout percentage against southpaws — so I’m expecting Cincinnati Reds lefty Andrew Abbott to string together some scoreless innings this afternoon, as he's a better pitcher than his .351 BABIP and 63.9% strand rate indicate. Colorado counters with Michael Lorenzen, a run-of-the-mill righty with a 4.20 ERA across 551 1/3 innings since transitioning to a full-time starter in 2022.

Joe Osborne's expert pick: Diamondbacks ML

Price: 46¢ (+117) at Polymarket

Sign me up for the Arizona Diamondbacks as a small dog when they have a clear edge in both starting pitching and hitting. Mike Soroka is in the midst of a breakout season, after injuries stalled his career, and Arizona is 4-1 in his starts as he has allowed two earned runs or fewer in four of them. He's in a great spot to carve up a struggling Milwaukee Brewers lineup that ranks 28th in OPS over the past two weeks. Milwaukee SP Brandon Woodruff has been solid, but Arizona’s offense — fourth in OPS over the past two weeks — can give him trouble.

More MLB best bets for today

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

Rangers 3, Yankees 0

• Good Nathan Eovaldi has entered the chat.
• Nathan Eovaldi kicked much ass on Wednesday afternoon.
• A much needed outing, given the bumpiness of recent performances.
• And I mean, really, Nate wasn’t going to let himself get outdueled by some dude named Elmer, right?
• Seven Ks, just one walk, seven innings. 20 swinging strikes on 102 pitches.
• Eovaldi largely stayed away from his fastball (thrown 10 times out of 102 pitches) and his sinker (5 times), going with a splitter/cutter/curveball mix. 12 of his swings and misses came on the splitter, 6 on the cutter.
• Eovaldi’s ERA on the year is now 4.76, with a 4.38 xERA.
• Big ups to Jacob Latz for the two inning save. Woo Jakey L!!!!!!!!
• This is the third shutout for the Rangers this year, and the first time they’ve shut out a team other than the Mariners.
• Offensively, a day after the Rangers were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position, Texas went 4 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Not surprisingly, that led to more runs.
• Only three, which isn’t ideal, but still.
• Josh Jung continues to carry the team on his back, as a bases loaded single in the fifth brought home the Rangers’ first two runs, breaking a scoreless tie.
• Jung is now slashing .317/.381/.545 on the season.
• Brandon Nimmo had an infield single to load the bases right before the Jung single, and ended up leaving the game for Sam Haggerty due to a hamstring issue, so apparently we had to sacrifice Brandon Nimmo to get runs scored.
• Nimmo, fortunately, is believed to be day-to-day, so hopefully he’ll be in the lineup at some point this weekend in Detroit.
• Haggerty, meanwhile, singled home the third run of the game in the seventh, so good job, Sam!
• Ezequiel Duran, getting the rare start against a righthander, was 2 for 2 with a double and a walk, raising his slash line on the season to .288/.354/.424.
• Duran has been splitting time in left field with Alejandro Osuna during Wyatt Langford’s absence. Langford is expected to be activated this weekend at some point, however, which will result in Osuna going back to AAA and Langford taking over the left field role.
• With Josh Smith’s current struggles, however, Duran could end up getting more playing time at second base.
• Nathan Eovaldi topped out at 95.6 mph with his fastball, averaging 94.5 mph. Jacob Latz touched 96.6 mph with his fastball.
• Joc Pederson had a 105.1 mph ground out and a 103.9 mph fly out. Corey Seager had a 102.8 mph GIDP. Jake Burger had a 100.8 mph ground out.
• Heading into an off day with a victory is always a good thing.

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This afternoon is loaded with ball games, and my top MLB player props have you covered for the action Thursday, April 30.

My two favorite MLB picks feature Houston Astros star Yordan Alvarez, and Philadelphia Phillies favorite Bryce Harper in favorable pitching matchups today.

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Yordan Alvarez	Over 1.5 total bases	-102
Bryce Harper	Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI	-105
Andrew Abbott	Over 4.5 strikeouts	-145

Yordan Alvarez Over 1.5 total bases (-102)

It’s been a rough start for Baltimore Orioles righty Chris Bassitt, with his 6.75 ERA reinforced by a 6.25 xFIP, a monster .472 wOBA, and .246 ISO to left-handed hitters. Houston Astros star Yordan Alvarez has posted .463 wOBA and .338 ISO against right-handed arms this season, and he’s teed off on Bassitt for five home runs across 25 at-bats with a monster 1.598 OPS.

• Time: 12:35 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MASN, SCHN

Bryce Harper Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI (-105)

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper is heating up to go Over the number in this market in five of his past seven games with six runs, seven hits, and eight RBI, and he’s put up a rock-solid .407 wOBA against righties for the year.

This is also a soft pitching matchup with San Francisco Giants righty Logan Webb searching for answers on the mound. He’s surrendered a beefy 49.1% hard-hit rate, and left-handed hitters have squared off for a .372 wOBA. Harper has also launched a pair of home runs against Webb while going 4-for-8 at the dish.

• Time: 12:35 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBCSP, NBCSBA

Andrew Abbott Over 4.5 strikeouts (-145)

With the Colorado Rockies sporting a 22nd-ranked wOBA and striking out at the second-highest clip against lefties, this is a solid bounce-back opportunity for Cincinnati Reds southpaw Andrew Abbott.

There’s no sugarcoating Abbott's poor start, but he’s set to improve on his unsustainable .351 BABIP and 63.9% strand rate, and his 8.3 K/9 and 22.2 K% across his first 75 career starts are well above his respective 5.97 and 14.3% marks to start 2026. Simply put, the Reds' lefty has sunnier days ahead. 

• Time: 12:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CINR, COLR

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

I’ve always been fascinated by disasters: Hurricanes, tornadoes, the Hindenburg, Titanic, 9/11, wars, engineering failures, the list goes on. The bigger this disaster, the more I’m drawn to it. They’re compelling not only because of the long list of factors that usually have to line up to cause the catastrophe, but also because they provide a blueprint into how to prepare for the next one, or even outright prevent it.

So I guess it’s rather perfect that I’m a fan of the Boston Red Sox. Few organizations in sports do disaster quite like this one. Even after four World Series titles in the John Henry era, this team still has that thing in their DNA that when they start going bad, things explode in spectacular and catastrophic fashion.

This April has been a special level of disaster across the board, and one of the disasters within the disaster has been Brayan Bello. I mean, what the hell is going on with this guy? He was a competent starter just last summer, and now he’s a straight up arsonist on the mound.

Yesterday, he went into the game against the Blue Jays with a 9.00 ERA, and it went UP! And if that wasn’t enough to raise your blood pressure, he pouted all the way off the mound when Chad Tracy went to go get him in an attempt to keep the game in hand (although some would argue that with this offense the score was already insurmountable).

There have been so many hideous surprises with the Sox this year that I don’t think we’ve really gotten enough time to fully digest how insanely terrible Brayan Bello has been out of the gate. It’s been one gutless performance after the next, and it usually comes attached with an attitude that’s been almost as lousy as the pitching.

In six starts, he has the second highest ERA of any Red Sox starter through that many games in a season in franchise history. He’s failed to make it through the five innings in all but one outing, he completely lost track of the count in the game in Houston, and the team has a run differential of negative 20 in his starts.

If you want to go back even further, this garbage started in his outing in the postseason last October against the Yankees when he was bounced after just 2.1 innings in a sneaky bleak and borderline abysmal performance. As I wrote in January about that game when I wanted to trade him:

Bello faced just 11 batters, failed to get five of them out, didn’t strike out a soul, couldn’t keep Ben Rice in the ballpark, and was largely saved from complete disaster by an Anthony Volpe double play in the second inning, and Alex Cora’s quick hook in the third.

This is crazy to think about when you consider Bello had a 3.32 ERA last year and made it through at least five innings in 23 of his 28 starts. Now he’s so terrible and unreliable, the Sox need to find a way to get him out of the rotation as soon as possible before he can do any more damage. He’s not just losing games, he’s making them completely unwinnable even if most of the rest of the roster would happen to do their job.

But of course, because this is Red Sox baseball and they’re prone to disasters, they pretty much have to let Brayan Bello make his next start with Garrett Crochet going on IL. Since the rotation is also without Johan Oviedo, Patrick Sandoval, Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, and Tyler Uberstine and has to wait until May 6th before Sonny Gray is eligible to come off the IL, it creates this really annoying dynamic over the next five games if you want to get Brayan Bello out of the rotation.

If you assume Jake Bennett makes his major league debut on Friday at Fenway and then the other three healthy starters just follow suit, it leaves you one game short of getting back to Gray’s date. Here’s how it breaks down with Bello having to fill that May 5th game in Detroit.

This is really annoying because with the off day today, it feels like there should be some way to manipulate things and get Bello off the carousel, but short of a rainout, there’s just one too many games to cover.

So it would seem the only other option here would be to go with a bullpen game since Bello pretty much makes every game he starts a mini bullpen game anyway, right?

Well, not exactly. If you take a look at the how opposing starters are lining up for the next handful of games, the Red Sox are once again likely to catch reigning Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal on the Monday, May 4th game. This presents Boston with a unique opportunity to pull off an Art of War trick by using today’s off day to move up Brayan Bello’s next start to Monday where he’d still be on normal rest. (And really, rest should be no problem because he only lasted 63 pitches in Wednesday’s atrocious outing anyway.)

I mean, if you likely to lose any game of that Detroit series where Skubal or Bello starts, why not put them on the same day? If your opponent has an Ace of Spades on the table, you might as well throw out your two of clubs if you have that option. Wouldn’t you much rather lose that Monday game 13-1 and reset things for the rest of the series instead of losing 3-2 on Monday and then something like 12-5 on Tuesday?

Also, Brayan Bello kind of deserves to be fed to the lions — Or I guess Tigers in this case. You put your teammates in a horrible situation time and time again? How about we put you in a horrible situation and make you face Skubal?

After that, if he stinks again and Jake Bennett and Payton Tolle look decent (with both guys going on extra rest in this proposed pitching plan), you can use one of the two options Bello has left and send his unreliable butt down the Mass Pike to Worcester.

The Yankees picked up their fourth consecutive series win, taking the first two games from the Rangers at Globe Life Field. The offense may have gotten on the plane back to New York early as they got shut out by Nathan Eovaldi in the series finale, but they can still be proud of a 7-2 showing on the road trip. All three games in Arlington turned into tense affairs, including on Tuesday night with Fernando Cruz on in relief.

We join Cruz facing former Yankees farmhand Ezequiel Duran in a high leverage jam in the bottom of the eighth. There are runners on first and second after he surrendered a Josh Jung single and Corey Seager walk to open the frame. However, he’s gotten two outs on a force out by Joc Pederson followed by a strikeout of Jake Burger to put him three strikes away from escaping this sticky situation.

After giving up the Jung single on a first-pitch four-seamer, it appeared that Cruz resolved to only throw his splitter for the rest of the inning.

This one is a doozy, looking like a low strike out of Cruz’s hand before falling off the table. He makes Duran look silly on a pitch that bounces just beyond home plate, the hitter clearly not expecting something off-speed to start the AB.

After Cruz induces such a wild swing and miss, Austin Wells sets a target in the exact same location looking to see if they can extract the same result.

I’m not certain that Cruz intended to throw this pitch here for a called strike — in fact as the age-old mantra “see it low, let it go; see it high, let it fly,” tells us, you generally do not want to throw your splitter up in the zone because those pitches can get launched a mile. However, it achieved the desired result, Duran giving up early on a pitch that looks high above the zone only for the late downward tilt to nip the top edge of the zone for the strike looking. The added bonus of landing your offspeed in the zone for a called strike is changing the hitter’s eye level, opening a lot more opportunity later in the AB for chase out of the zone.

Cruz immediately has the count leverage firmly in his favor, 0-2, and is just a strike away from escaping the jam unscathed. Duran has already shown a willingness to chase the splitter below the zone — Cruz just needs to execute a similar pitch to the first one he threw.

Cruz executes his pitch to the spot he intends, Duran just does a good job to adjust his bat-path mid-swing to spoil the splitter foul. If we’re being nitpicky, Cruz would ideally like this pitch about six inches lower in a location where Duran cannot make contact, but there was no harm done as the count remains 0-2.

It must be obvious to Duran at this point that Cruz is going to keep spamming splitters until he gets the out or Duran gets on base. It’s one thing knowing what pitch is coming, but Cruz’s splitter is so nasty with such late and abrupt downward movement that you’d be hard-pressed to do damage even knowing that it is coming.

Cruz rips off an absolute beauty of a splitter to finish off the AB. The pitch is on the bottom edge of the zone so Duran has to swing, but he’s nowhere close to making contact, whiffing to strand the base runners at first and second.

Here’s the full sequence:

While the approach of throwing 16 straight splitters after the Jung leadoff single worked for Cruz in this case, you’d feel a lot more comfortable if Cruz had at least one more pitch that he trusted. The four-seamer is getting clobbered so far this season so you would think Cruz is the ideal candidate to incorporate the sinker that is doing the rounds across almost the entire Yankees pitching room. He’s never really trusted his slider in his two seasons in pinstripes despite the pitch exhibiting the eighth-most horizontal break vs. average of any slider in MLB. I feel that establishing a comfort level with one or both of those pitches can give Cruz another weapon while also increasing the effectiveness of the splitter.

The Yankees bullpen outside of Tim Hill has not done much to inspire a ton of confidence through the first month of games. Jake Bird throws too many of his breaking balls down the middle, you can reliably pencil Camilo Doval to give up a homer every appearance, and even David Bednar is an exhausting, edge-of-disaster experience closing out games. Cruz walks entirely too many batters (almost 18-percent!) to feel comfortable as the designated setup man. But if he can find another pitch he can reliably throw for strikes without getting crushed to set up the splitter, I’d feel a lot better about him in the eighth inning.

After playing 13 straight games, the Dodgers off day couldn’t come at a better time. The offense specifically needs time to regroup. After scoring a total of 22 runs against the Chicago Cubs over the weekend, the Dodgers manages just eight runs total against the Miami Marlins, in which the Fish won 2-of-3 games at Dodger Stadium for the first time since 2018.

“I don’t think we’re collectively swinging the bats the way we were early,” Roberts said. “Sort of started in Colorado, I think. It’s one of those things where hitting is definitely cyclical. In total, we we’re at the top, near the top. The last 10 days, it just hasn’t been synced up. We just haven’t got those hits when we needed them.”

Cyclical is one way to put it. The Dodgers seemed like maybe they got their bats going in the hour game series at Coors Field, only to have them go cold again in San Francisco. Then they erupted again against the Cubs, and went flat against the Marlins.

Taking into account the pitchers they were facing, the Dodgers just haven’t had consistent, patient at bats. That is one of the tactics the Marlins deployed against the Dodgers, patience and working their at bats.

Even as the Marlins did their best to styme the Dodgers pitching staff, they only scored nine runs total over the series. An offense as high powered as the Dodgers’ should have had no problem scoring more than them in at least two if not all of the games.

Doug Padilla of the OC Register covers many of the ways the Dodgers are currently slumping at the plate.

Freddie Freeman is one of the Dodgers currently most Going Through It. In his last seven games, Freeman has as many strikeouts as he has hits. He also owns a .138 BA over that same time span.

“I would have fixed it by now if I knew,” he said through gritted teeth when asked what the problem was. “I had pitches to hit. I just didn’t hit ’em. I mean, I had strikes, I swung at the strikes, I didn’t hit the strikes, so…”

Freeman’s at bat in the bottom of the ninth resulted in a bizarre double play which ended the game in the Marlins’ favor. Just another, albeit odd, example of the Dodgers leaving multiple men in scoring position.

Kevin Baxter of the L.A. Times details other players that are also slumping, which unfortunately right now seems to be most of the lineup.

The Dodgers are hoping that the upcoming road trip to St. Louis and Houston will help their offense get back on track, and back up their pitching staff who has been holding up their end of the bargain.

Meet the Mets

The Mets got blown out by the Nationals behind duel stinkers by David Peterson and Sean Manaea. The loss drops them to 10-20, which is the worst record in all of baseball.

Choose your recap:Amazin’ Avenue, Daily News, Faith and Fear in Flushing, MLB.com, Newsday, NY Post

Luis Robert Jr.’s back is not getting any better, and an IL stint is a possibility for the outfielder.

The Mets lost Pete Alonso and have not effectively replaced him with the rotating cast of characters at first base.

The team’s offense is still a disaster, so where does the coaching staff even begin to try and fix it?

The Mets will need more than just Juan Soto if they want to get back on track.

Kodai Senga has no timetable for his return with the back issue that put him on the IL after his last start.

Around the National League East

The Braves took down the Tigers with a 4-3 walk-off win.

The Marlins squeaked out a win against the Dodgers with an unassisted double play to end the game.

The Phillies have dug themselves a deep hole, but Don Mattingly could the right person to get them out of it.

Around Major League Baseball

The Red Sox placed ace Garrett Crochet on the IL with shoulder inflammation.

Yankees outfielder Jasson Dominguez exited the game early after getting hit by a pitch on the elbow and will undergo further testing to get it evaluated.

The Tigers placed both Casey Mize and Javier Baez on the IL before their game against the Braves.

Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal are once again the favorites to win the Cy Young award.

Labor talks between MLB and the player’s union are due to get underway in the coming weeks in what could be a contentious battle between the two sides

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 2002, Al Leiter defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks which made him the first pitcher to defeat all 30 teams in the major leagues.

In case you weren’t watching, the NL East leading Braves won yet another baseball game last night. They will end April without losing a series. And Matt Olson won it in the ninth. In case you haven’t seen it, where have you been?

Oh my word.

Here’s the longer clip.

Here it is from CJ Nitkowski’s seat

Let’s take it all in again. There aren’t a lot of pictures in the CMS for this, but the ones in there are great. I’ll add a few screengrabs. First, watch the usher/support staff guy. He was the second one to know it was gone.

These blurry images of the guy beside him in the Clemson/Auburn themed Braves hat.

This one goes straight into the Louvre.

Here’s Olson, about as animated as you will see him.

The bullpen enjoyed it just a little.

Here’s Olson, still pumped.

Arrival at the plate

Michael Harris II with the bubble gum shower.

Ronnie with the chest bump

Wiley Ballard thinking “oh no they’re screaming in my ear to grab Matt but they’re gonna take him right into the clubhouse”

Celebratory Gatorade bath (forgive the weird MSPaint cropping and stretching)

Forgive me, but you have to enjoy the little things. For one moment yesterday, this was everyone.

In the comments, when discussing Jordan Walker, Memphis Myke wondered if it mattered that Jordan Walker had minimal protection in the lineup, since he’s followed by Nolan Gorman. Who hasn’t really hit at all this year. Gorman does have a surprisingly high number of RBIs though considering his poor hitting thus far. He has 18 RBIs in 29 games. And not that he’d play in 162 games, but that’s 100 RBIs over a full season.

Breaking news: RBIs don’t tell you how good a hitter is. Also Gorman driving in runs has not a lot to do with protection as it pertains to Jordan Walker. Pitchers don’t see Gorman on deck and see the RBIs and think “well now I have to pitch to Jordan Walker.” They see the .214 average, the .357 slugging, and the 79 wRC+. You’d rather face him than Jordan Walker.

I instinctively said that protection is a myth. I read an article years ago on this very site that looked at the performance of the #2 hitters in front of Albert Pujols, and they didn’t really play much differently in that spot than in other parts of the lineup. I could not find that article. I did find an article by Tom Tango, however, talking about protection.

And his conclusions were indeed that pitchers pitched a little differently to hitters if there was a strong hitter behind them versus not. If you have a weak hitter behind you, they will probably pitch around you. Both BB% and K% increase with a weak hitter. Interestingly though, if you actually make contact with the ball, there’s no difference. What he terms a protected hitter is not seeing better pitches to hit. Pitchers still don’t want to give a good hitter a pitch to hit, and it doesn’t matter how good the hitter is behind him.

The entire point of protecting a batter is to improve his offensive output (wOBA) by forcing the opposing pitcher to pitch to him. And indeed, we saw above that opposing pitchers pitch to protected hitters, something that is evidenced by the fewer walks. However, when the ball is put into play, we see no significant difference between how the two sets of hitters perform. The unprotected hitters have a wOBA of .395 (counting only balls that are hit), compared with .391 for protected hitters. The difference of .004 is not statistically significant. 

…..

However, what we hoped to find was that, when pitchers pitch around the corners, batters tend to make worse contact (if they make contact at all). And we don’t see this. Instead, we again find that, if walks are ignored, the two types of hitters perform equivalently in wOBA. (The slight increase in strikeouts is compensated by a slight increase in the fraction of balls hit well when contact is made.) In short, we simply cannot find any evidence to suggest that the pitcher’s approach has any significant impact on the batter’s stats, aside from the obvious changes in walks and strikeouts.

So a couple of interesting takeaways here. The good news is that it doesn’t seem like the hitter behind him matters at all when it comes to contact quality. His batted ball data should not be affected. His overall performance should be the same. But it could also explain the strikeouts and the higher walk rate this season. Again though, pitchers saw what Jordan Walker was doing, and then adjusted the way they pitched to him. This had nothing to do with a weaker hitter behind him. If prime Albert Pujols was behind him, they’d try their best to avoid Walker hitting the ball.

Nolan Gorman’s defense

In an interesting twist, the early returns on Nolan Gorman’s defense are very, very good. Unsustainably good certainly. But if he’s good on defense at 3B, then he’ll have an MLB job for quite a while, even if it doesn’t end up being on the Cards. A defense-first 3B who once jacked 27 homers? Yeah that guy would get lots of chances. Of course, we don’t know if he’s actually a good defender. Way too small of a sample size.

But, just to illustrate the importance of him being a good defender, I wanted to present what a +5 defender at 3B looks like with different offensive outcomes. Last year for example, it could have been the yips, but he was -6 OAA in 410 innings. The offensive bar is quite high if your defense is that bad. It would take a lot of faith in Nolan Gorman the hitter that I just don’t think people have.

But maybe he can reach a much lower bar and maybe if he does reach that, he still has a frustrating way to be an average overall player. Hey these are the kinds of things that we need to find out. Prior to last season, he had a combined 126 innings at 3B in the majors. Then, like I said, I think something mental was going on, because he kept throwing it wildly off, and that’s not been an issue this season. He has pretty much passed the eye test, and certainly it’s obvious how much better he is than last year. It’s not like we’re seeing the same thing and getting wildly different results.

So I will present a few different outcomes just to illustrate the importance of him actually being good on defense. I’ll show you Gorman as 85 wRC+ hitter, which would be a career low, as a 95 wRC+ hitter, a 105 wRC+ hitter, and just for fun a 120 wRC+ hitter. And we’ll see how each of those hitting lines work with a -5 defender at 3B, a neutral defender at 3B, and a +5 defender at 3B. We’ll start with more or less worst case scenario:

85 wRC+, -5 defender = 0.5 WAR (per 600 PAs)

95 wRC+, -5 defender = 1.2 WAR

105 wRC+, -5 defender = 2 WAR

120 wRC+, -5 defender = 3 WAR

Not ideal, although I will point out he doesn’t need to be an especially good hitter to still be average here. My faith in Nolan Gorman the batter is not very high, but a 105 wRC+ isn’t crazy to imagine for me. He’s done it twice in his career. That said, not a super appealing profile here. Gorman won’t get 600 PAs if he’s a 105 wRC+ hitter and a bad defender, so he wouldn’t reach 2 WAR. Let’s take the conservative approach, probably what we’re “supposed” to do in this situation, assume an average defender:

85 wRC+, 0 defender = 1 WAR

95 wRC+, 0 defender = 1.8 WAR

105 wRC+, 0 defender = 2.5 WAR

120 wRC+, 0 defender = 3.6 WAR

Again, remember where Gorman was at last year. I would have for sure taken it if you could guarantee me Gorman was an average defensive 3B. With this version, predictably, his offense dictates how good he is. Below average hitter, he’s more of a bench player. Average or better and he’s a starting caliber player.

85 wRC+, +5 defender = 1.6 WAR

95 wRC+, +5 defender = 2.3 WAR

105 wRC+, +5 defender = 3 WAR

120 wRC+, +5 defender = 4.1 WAR

And the best case scenario is he’s a genuinely good defender, because even the career low wRC+ is a solid sub, if not necessarily someone you want as your starter. If he gets close to average offensively, he is solidly in above average player territory. And if we combine that with good hitting, then he’s either a great trade candidate or someone you hold onto.

My approach to Gorman turned into “trade him even if he breaks out” because I didn’t trust him to maintain his production. If he’s a good defender, this does change somewhat. He goes from fool’s gold to a high floor guy who might hit 40 homers one year. If I have to bank on him being a good hitter, I’m not a fan. If being a good hitter is just a bonus, then I can roll with that. Doesn’t even matter if it’s unlikely he becomes a good hitter.

Good morning, baseball fans!

According to reporting from Gabe Fernandez of SFGate, the San Francisco Giants have removed a food item that was both popular and controversial from availability at Oracle Park.

The Giants were among a handful of teams who had released a “9-9-9 challenge” concession package earlier this season. The challenge is essentially to eat nine hot dogs and drink nine beers over nine innings. I think you’re technically supposed to do one of each per inning.

The package was, ostensibly, quite a steal at $54.99 for nine of each item. Or at least it would have been if they were full size. But the package apparently included miniature sized hot dogs and beers. Which might be a gimmicky version of the challenge, and probably better for the health of anyone adventurous enough to try it, but it didn’t exactly live up to expectations that many fans may have had.

But I guess that’s okay, because according to Fernandez’ reporting, the park quietly stopped selling the packages earlier this month. Whether that was more to do with the fan reaction, lack of inventory, or if they’ve just decided it’s probably not a good idea on the whole. Who can say. They certainly didn’t, because they did not respond to SFGate’s request for a comment.

Question of the day: Would you be willing to try the “9-9-9 challenge” if they become available again?

Personally, I don’t think I would be interested, even if they increased the sizes to match the actual spirit of the challenge. There are some things best done in moderation, especially at my age. But if any of you young whippersnappers ever get a chance to try it, you’ll have to let us know how it goes.

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants wrap up their three-game road series against the Philadelphia Phillies later this morning at 10:05 a.m. PT.

The high likelihood of a 2027 work stoppage has been floating in the background for a while now, tied to the upcoming expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement.

How will this affect our Sox?

The easy answer is that it depends a lot on where they are in their timeline. The more honest answer is that uncertainty alone is part of the problem.

If the South Siders are still in a rebuild, a work stoppage could be a real gut punch. Lost time means fewer reps for prospects, fewer opportunities to evaluate talent at the major league level, and a disrupted rhythm for Chris Getz and the front office that’s trying to figure out what it actually has. We know how important development is, especially for teams like the Sox, leaning on young players to take that next step.

On the other hand, if 2027 is supposed to be part of a competitive window, the stakes are even higher. A shortened season or delayed start compresses everything. Hot starts matter more. Slumps hurt more. Depth gets tested differently. And for a team that’s trying to prove it belongs, losing even a part of a season can feel like losing an entire opportunity.

Then there’s the financial side. We know that the White Sox aren’t a team that operates at the very top of the spending scale, and uncertainty tends to make cautious teams even more cautious. A looming or ongoing work stoppage could impact free-agent decisions, extensions (Munetaka Murakami), or even mid-tier signings — the exact types of moves that often shape how competitive this team can realistically be.

There’s also a lingering memory factor here. The 2021–22 MLB lockout didn’t just delay the season — it froze pretty much the entire offseason and created a weird, rushed sprint once things resumed. Teams that were prepared adapted. Others looked like they were playing catch-up from day one. It’s not hard to imagine a similar dynamic playing out again.

And maybe the biggest thing? Momentum.

Baseball is a sport that thrives on routine and rhythm. For an organization like the White Sox, which has spent the last few years trying to develop a new clubhouse identity, that kind of interruption could hit harder than it would for a more established contender.

At the same time, there’s an argument that a stoppage could level the playing field a bit. Every team deals with the same pause. Every roster gets thrown off schedule. In theory, it creates a reset button. But resets aren’t always neutral. Some teams need continuity more than others.

So the question isn’t just will a 2027 work stoppage affect the White Sox — it’s how it would hit them.

If it lands during another transitional year, it could slow everything down. If it lands right as they’re turning the corner, it could derail something meaningful. If it lands when they’re already struggling well, then it might just blend into the background noise.

That’s the unfortunate part of all this. The impact of something like a work stoppage isn’t just about the league; it’s about timing, and the White Sox haven’t exactly given anyone a clear sense yet of where that timing will fall.

How much do you think a potential 2027 work stoppage would impact the White Sox specifically, or is it just one of those league-wide issues that ends up affecting everyone the same?

Today’s Reflections

Today’s Reflections are a bit here and there, but it all comes together in the end.

A few years ago, I was on one of my mini-MiLB baseball trip/music festival combos through southern Mississippi and the Florida panhandle (Biloxi Shuckers — 3.5 (giant casino in the outfield annoying); Pensacola Blue Wahoos — 4.25 (while Biloxi is on the water, Pensacola is almost in the water — the first base line/RF has a curved walkway that almost draws you from the game (hard for anything to make me do that)) both docked 0.5 for Biloxi having NO shade, and Pensacola minimal — glad we went in early May).

I knew I was passing through Crystal Springs, MS and that that was where Robert Johnson was from (our featured bluesman today). Saw there was a museum, so I stopped. The large room made the displays look limited, but it just gave you plenty of room to look everything over (surprise, we were the only visitors). I asked if they had any souvenirs or T-shirts. The lady said that they had a bunch left over from a festival they tried having several years before, and the vendor brought one size of T-shirts: 5X. I went ahead and bought one as a donation.

As we were leaving, the lady asked we liked music-related locations. I kind of was skeptical, but said sure and she sent us an hour down the road, luckily in the direction we were going. It was at Gillsburg, MS — the Lynyrd Skynyrd Monument Site. To say it was of such amazing detail and quality and just flat-out beautiful isn’t enough. SO highly recommended if you are in the middle of nowhere Mississippi.

• Brett Taylor (North Side Baseball): Kyle Hendricks is Joining an MLB Front Office, But Somehow It Isn’t the Cubs. “How on earth did this happen? How is this possible? Everyone knew old friend/pitching genius Kyle Hendricks was going to join an MLB front office after his playing days were over, and frankly, I’d just assumed that it would OBVIOUSLY be the Chicago Cubs. ….. As you would guess, Hendricks will reportedly be working in pitching development with the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers. Not the Cubs. The Tigers.”
• Brian Kelter (North Side Baseball): Was the Cubs’ Pitching Injury Crisis Inevitable? “The Cubs’ pitching depth has been annihilated by injuries. This isn’t luck. This is a risky plan gone awry.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): Where things stand with Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman as Cubs near end of trip. “Cubs manager Craig Counsell explained that Bregman was out of the lineup with a sore toe. ….. Swanson then felt something while sliding to steal third base. Swanson had exited the game with a “left glute cramp.” It’s hard to give the Cubs the benefit of the doubt with injuries,“
• Gordon Edes (Chicago Sun-Times): Could Moises Ballesteros be Cubs’ first Rookie of the Year since Kris Bryant? “With a bat in his hands, he has been lethal. And what could prove to be a boon to the candidacy of the native of Los Toques, Venezuela is if he gains more opportunities to catch.”
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com): Hoerner, Bregman, PCA lead Cubs in victory over Padres. “There was Nico Hoerner, delivering in the clutch as his incredible opening month is approaching its finish line. Alex Bregman came off the bench – after what was supposed to be a day off – coming through with a pinch-hit. And then Pete Crow-Armstrong put the 8-3 victory in the bag with a three-run homer that ended a prolonged power outage”

• Randy Holt (North Side Baseball): “Does Moisés Ballesteros’s Profile Indicate Looming Regression, or Continued Brilliance? “With a 216 wRC+ in 69 plate appearances, Ballesteros trails only Yordan Alvarez for the major-league lead. ….. Perhaps most encouraging about the start from Ballesteros is that virtually everything he’s producing is coming on the strength of exactly what we thought his skill set was. ….. Given how seamlessly the profile has manifested in nearly a full-time role, is it possible that his skill set could help him stave off what seems like inevitable regression?
• Darragh McDonald (MLBTradeRumors.com): Cubs Outright Scott Kingery, Vince Velasquez. “The Cubs have sent infielder/outfielder Scott Kingery and right-hander Vince Velasquez outright to AAA Iowa.“
• Darragh McDonald (MLBTradeRumors.com): Cubs Claim Doug Nikhazy, Designate Ben Cowles For Assignment. “The Cubs have claimed left-hander Doug Nikhazy off waivers from the White Sox and optioned him to AAA Iowa. The Cubs designated IF Ben Cowles for assignment to open a 40-man spot.”
• Ben Heyen (Sporting News): Cubs looking smart after not paying Kyle Tucker $240 million for 4 years. “The Cubs may have known what was coming, or they may have gotten lucky. But so far, Tucker’s deal with the Dodgers hasn’t worked out. …… So far, Tucker has been a below league average hitter. His OPS+ is just 96, which means he’s been 4% worse than the league average bat.”

• Justin Bonhard (Sporting News): The Chicago Cubs are amongst the league’s best, and they have not reached their full potential yet. “The Cubs have gotten it done with their bats, as they have the third-best batting average in all of baseball at. 263 as a team. To go along with the contact, they have made the most of their hits with some power, as their 37 homers as a team are the sixth-most in MLB. When (PCA catches fire), the possibilities for this team are endless, and their true potential will be revealed.”

• Max Ralph (MLB.com): Suzuki offers hilarious BP impressions of Ballesteros, Swanson: “Suzuki (a righty) did an over-the-top impression of Ballesteros’ unique left-handed swing, featuring a sizable leg kick with his hands held high, for teammates during pregame batting practice. The slugger also took his shot at Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, who recognizably puts the bat on his shoulder and leans back a bit before digging into his stance. Swanson also tends to fall toward home plate after a swing and miss, which Suzuki displayed perfectly, before mocking Swanson’s wide-legged gait back toward the dugout. (VIDEO enclosed);

(BONUS!) Suzuki’s imitation of Ian Happ:

• Matt Sullivan (Sporting News): Cubs have a huge Pete Crow-Armstrong hitting problem. “So far this season (prior to Tuesday), Crow-Armstrong is hitting .241 with one home run, which is thanks in large part to how he’s struggling to barrel up any baseballs this season. He had 59 barrels last year, but this season he’s barreled up just four baseballs. His offensive presence has been minimal at best this season, with his 82 OPS+ showing just how far below league-average he is offensively.”

• Jay Cohen (Chicago Tribune{$}): The mighty NL Central is the majors’ only division with 5 winning teams: ‘Really good division’. ““It’s a really good division,” Chicago Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman said. “Obviously good pitching, good offenses, and all the teams have gotten off to a good start. So we know that we’ve got our work cut out for us in this division.”

*means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments.

Food For Thought:

More than 100 years ago, a child was born in Mississippi – a dirt-poor, African-American who would grow up, learn to sing and play the blues, and eventually achieve worldwide renown. In the decades after his death, he has become known as the King of the Delta Blues Singers, his music expanding in influence to the point that rock stars of the greatest magnitude – the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, the Allman Brothers – all sing his praise and have recorded his songs.

That child was Robert Johnson, an itinerant blues singer and guitarist who lived from 1911 to 1938. He recorded 29 songs between 1936 and ‘37 for the American Record Corporation, which released eleven 78rpm records on their Vocalion label during Johnson¹s lifetime, and one after his death.

Like many bluesmen of his day, Johnson plied his craft on street corners and in juke joints, ever rambling and ever lonely – and writing songs that romanticized that existence. But Johnson accomplished this with such an unprecedented intensity, marrying his starkly expressive vocals with a guitar mastery, that his music has endured long after the heyday of country blues and his own short life.

Odd News

Wisconsin recycling center posts 17.3 mph speed limit sign (VIDEO)

USA/World Travel

12 Wow Destinations to add to your Bucket List (VIDEO)

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.

With yesterday’s victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, the Cleveland Guardians are back to a .500 record and back to the top of the AL Central. Gavin Williams pitched a phenomenal game yesterday in the 3-1 victory on 4 days of rest. The recap can be read here.

The Guardians are off today as the team travels out west to face off against the Oakland Athletics in a 3 game weekend series.

Nick and Quincy are exploring the questions we’ve all been asking; What’s wrong with Steven Kwan/Chase DeLauter.

Guardians beat reporter, Tim Stebbins, put out a piece looking at where the team is at in regards to the offense after a month of baseball.

Around the League:

The Braves walked it off against the Tigers. The Tigers are now 1 game under .500 and 0.5 games back in the AL Central.

The Marlins took a series from the Dodgers.

Triple-A: Nashville Sounds (Brewers) 7, Norfolk Tides 4

It’s almost impressive that the Tides lineup managed to go 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position, largely squandering their nine hits and five walks. Jud Fabian drove in two of the runs with his sixth home run of the year. He also walked once and scored twice. Creed Willems and Jhonkensy Noel had one RBI apiece. Jonathan Rodríguez and Christian Encarnacion-Strand each had two hits. Encarancion-Strand added a walk and now has a .905 OPS on the year.

There was some good and some bad on the mound. Nestor German started and deliver four mixed innings. He only allowed one run on three hits and two strikeouts, but also issued six walks. Dietrich Enns coughed up a run over two innings while striking out three. Alex Pham also allowed one run in his two frames. But it was Josh Walker that really struggled, recording just two outs and allowing four runs, which included a walk-off three-run shot.

Double-A: Erie SeaWolves (Tigers) 7, Chesapeake Baysox 3

Chesapeake had just four hits. One of them was a home run by Aron Estrada, his third of the year. Adam Retzbach and Ethan Anderson contributed one double and one run apiece. Thomas Sosa had the team’s only other RBI.

Five different Baysox took the mound in this one. Luis De León started and went 3.1 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on four hits, three walks, four strikeouts, and two home runs. His ERA is up to 6.52 on the year. Micah Ashman had the most impressive outing of the day, striking out three over 1.2 shutout innings. Yaqui Rivera followed with a perfect frame, setting down all three batters he faced on strikes. Eric Torres gave up two runs (one earned) over 1.2 innings before Carlos Tavera recorded the final out of the eighth inning.

High-A: Frederick Keys 5, Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets) 0

All but one Frederick hitter reached based at least once in the winning effort. Ike Irish and Wehiwa Aloy both hit their four home runs of the season. Irish’s was a two-run shot while Aloy’s was just a solo. Colin Tuft had two hits, a walk, two stolen bases, and a run scored. Victor Figueroa doubled and drove in a run. Braylin Tavera went 1-for-4 with an RBI and two stolen bases. Leandro Arias walked twice and stole a bag.

The Keys pitchers had a great day. JT Quinn delivered five shutout innings, giving up just three hits and two walks while striking out five. Michael Caldon worked 2.2 shutout innings in relief. Joe Glassey wrapped up the game by recording the final four outs, which included three strikeouts.

Low-A: Hill City Howlers (Guardians) 4, Delmarva Shorebirds 0

The Shorebirds’ tough season continued here. Their lineup collected just two hits, both of which were singles. Joshua Liranzo and Andrés Nolaya had one each. DJ Layton, the team’s lead-off hitter, did walk twice, but he was also picked off and caught stealing after one of them. The team went hitless in the five at-bats they had with a runner in scoring position.

Brayan Orrantia allowed four runs in his 4.2 innings of work, but only two of the runs were earned due to the three errors that the Delmarva defense made behind him. Orrantia made one of the errors himself. Adrian Heredia allowed one of the runners he inherited to score but then worked 1.1 shutout innings of his own. Riley Cooper struck out four over two perfect frames. Kenny Leiner came on in the ninth to pitch and allowed the two batters he faced to reach base before rain ended the game right there.

Box Scores

Thursday’s Schedule

Norfolk: at Nashville, Game 1, 6:35 pm. Starter: Levi Wells (1-2, 4.84 ERA)

Norfolk: at Nashville, Game 2, TBD. Starter: Cameron Weston (0-0, 3.38 ERA)

Chesapeake: at Erie, 6:05 pm. Starter: Sebastian Gongora (0-0, 3.18 ERA)

Frederick: vs Brooklyn, 6:40 pm. Starter: Boston Bateman (0-2, 9.82 ERA)

Delmarva: vs Hill City, 7:05 pm. Starter: Esteban Mejia (0-2, 7.15 ERA)

The Colorado Rockies are off to a strong start.

The pitching has been surprisingly solid as a whole, and the lineup has seen good performances from Hunter Goodman, Mickey Moniak, and Edouard Julien.

It hasn’t all been perfect, however. Tyler Freeman, TJ Rumfield, and Kyle Karros have shown some good signs amongst their overall mixed start, but the list of outright disappointments for this team so far is astonishingly small.

Given his track record the biggest underperformance so far for the 2026 Rockies is probably Ezequiel Tovar and the .193/.228/.294 triple slash line he had heading into Wednesday.

The obvious answer as to what is holding Tovar’s offensive potential back is easy to diagnose: He chases too many pitches outside the zone. So far this season, he leads the league in terms of swinging at pitches outside the zone with a mind boggling 48.7% chase rate.

That’s right, Tovar is swinging at just under half of the would-be balls he sees.

The thing is, that’s not really too different from his career averages.

Swinging at pitches he shouldn’t be has been Tovar’s most obvious flaw for his entire career. During his 3.7 fWAR season in 2024, he had a 44.1% Chase %, which was second in MLB behind only Ceddanne Rafaela of the Red Sox. It has been worse in 2026, but not by a significant margin that would explain the stark difference in productivity between the two seasons.

What’s interesting is that Tovar is actually making contact with pitches outside the zone more than he ever has. His chase contact rate has ballooned from being in the 46-48% range each of the past three seasons all the way up to 57.9% so far this year.

That sounds like a good thing. However, simply making contact with the ball does not necessarily mean it’s just a matter of time before his BABIP luck evens out. That may be some of it — as his overall BABIP is noticeably lower than his career average — but the quality of the contact also needs to be addressed.

In 2026, he is fouling off 25.1% of all pitches he sees while all of his previous seasons were in the 22% range. To go along with that spike in foul balls, his hard hit % has dropped nearly 3%, his average exit velocity has decreased nearly 2 mph, and his line drive percentage has dropped nearly 7%.

The biggest year-over-year change in Tovar’s stat line is his first-pitch swing percentage. In 2024, Tovar began 68.2% of his plate appearances with a strike, in 2025 he did so on 66.4%, and so far in 2026, it has been a truly wild 77.2%. That is a substantial increase, and all of it is accounted for by his 12.9% increase in first-pitch swings up to 59.6%.

Essentially, Tovar seems to be firing at the first pitch, finding himself behind in the count, and quickly adopting a two-strike mentality where he tries to fight off all the borderline pitches. This is a recipe for lots of contact without any productive results to show for it.

The solution is clearly for him to get better plate discipline, see the ball better, and make better swing decisions.

That’s much easier said than done.

We’ve now got over three seasons worth of data on Tovar, and it’s safe to say his poor plate discipline is part of his game and here to stay. He’s not suddenly going to become a patient hitter.

With all of that being said, the place to start is probably trying to get him to agree to simply not swing at the first pitch unless it’s a meatball right down the middle. This would likely give him some breathing room later in the count and reduce the strikeout pressure on every pitch. That one simple change is likely not a magic bullet to solve all of his problems but it absolutely would help.

On the Farm

Triple-A:Albuquerque Isotopes 6, El Paso Chihuahuas 7

A close game in which the Isotopes fell just short of catching up to the early runs from the Chihuahuas. Parker Mushinkski did not perform well as the opener and was pulled after only two outs and three runs. Gabriel Hughes pitched the bulk of the innings and allowed another four runs alongside eight strikeouts. The offensive side was more favorable with both Sterlin Thompson and Cole Carrigg reaching base three times and Carrigg even stole three bags.

Double-A:Hartford Yard Goats 6, Reading Fightin Phils 2

Pitching and the long ball was the story of the night in Reading. The Yard Goats scored six runs on only six hits and five walks thanks to home runs from all of Bryant Betancourt, Aidan Longwell, and Roc Riggio. On the mound Konnor Eaton, Carlos Torres, Austin Smith, and Sam Weatherly completed the nine inning relay race only allowing two runs while striking out twelve despite none of them pitching more than four innings.

High-A:Spokane Indians 1, Eugene Emeralds 3

Jeff Criswell made his first official appearance on a rehab assignment after undergoing Tommy John surgery early last year. Given that it was his first appearance back, the two runs allowed were less important a measure than simply the fact that he was able to get through a full inning. He was followed by six great innings from Jackson Cox who struck out nine and only allowed one more run. At the plate, the best performance was from Tevin Tucker who had a walk, double, and stolen base.

Low-A:Fresno Grizzlies 9, Stockton Ports 8

This wasn’t quite a pitchers duel. JB Middleton walked six in 2.2 innings to start off the game for the Yard Goats but Seth Clausen did record a perfect two inning save to preserve the lineup’s hard work. At the plate there were more good performances than not: Clayton Gray was on base four times, Clayton Fossum had two doubles, Roldy Brito had a couple hits including a double. The thing you really want to see, however, is Ethan Holliday at the plate with the bases loaded in the second inning.

Rockies Already Seeing Immediate Returns From Edouard Julien Trade | SI.com

Seth Dowdle takes a quick look at Edouard Julien’s career leading up to his trade to Colorado this offseason and how that has led into his hot start with the Rockies. Dowdle gives credit to the Paul DePodesta-led front office for identifying Julien as exactly the type of bat this team needed.

Strike 2: Former No. 1 overall draft pick Moniak might become an All-Star for the Rockies | Mile High Sports

Mark Knudson, on the other hand, gives credit where it’s due to the Bill Schmidt-led front office for having taken a chance on Mickey Moniak after a poor start to his career. Knudson makes the case that Moniak could end up being the Rockies representative at the All-Star game this year, which is only really in question because of how many other players are also off to hot starts.

Feltner begins throwing program, hoping to avoid Minor League rehab | MLB.com

Thomas Harding talked with Ryan Feltner about being placed on the Injured List and his next steps. Feltner does not make his injury sound overly serious and appears to be attempting to follow in the footsteps of José Quintana and Kyle Freeland with a minimum stay on the IL.

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