Category: Baseball

Rick Leach turns 69 today.

In 1979, the Tigers picked him 13th overall. Leach reached the majors in the 1981 strike season, hitting .193/.320/.289 in 83 at-bats, mainly pinch-hitting with some first and right field. He played three seasons for Detroit without much success at the plate before his release.

After leaving Detroit, the Blue Jays signed him before the 1984 season. He spent five seasons with the Jays, playing DH, first base, right field, left field, and occasionally center field. He even pitched an inning in 1984, though it went poorly: two walks, two hits, a home run. He hit fairly well. In 1986, he posted a .308/.335/.435 line; in 1987, .282/.371/.405. Still, he lacked the power and speed expected of a corner outfielder, but as a fourth outfielder, he was solid.

His time in Toronto had challenges as well. In 1986, Leach tested positive for a recreational drug, resulting in a 60-day suspension and mandatory treatment.

In 5 years with the Jays, Rick hit .283/.34/.391 with 8 home runs and 95 RBI in 763 at-bats. After Toronto, Leach played a season with the Giants and Rangers before leaving baseball at 33. He was a likable, fan-favourite fourth outfielder, but with Bell, Barfield and Moseby in the outfield, he had no chance at a full-time role. Still, he was a useful lefty off the bench.

He was a favourite of mine partly because, back in the day, I played Statis Pro Baseball and Strat-O-Matic Baseball. Rick had good numbers in 1986 and 1987, which gave him a valuable card in those games.

Leach was also a solid college football quarterback and was a fifth-round Broncos pick in 1979.

Wishing Rick a happy 69th birthday.

Also having birthdays:

• Miguel Cairo turns 52. Signed by the Dodgers as an undrafted free agent, he played 17 MLB seasons. His debut was with the Jays, who acquired him and Bill Risley for Edwin Hurtado and Paul Menhart. After 9 games (.222/.300/.296), he was traded to the Cubs for Jason Stevenson, who never made the majors. Cairo played 1,490 MLB games, hitting .264/.314/.361 with a 7.7 bWAR.

• Max Castillo turns 27. An international free agent signed by the Jays in 2015, he pitched in 9 games (2 starts) for them in 2022. In August, he and Samad Taylor were traded to the Royals for Whit Merrifield. He pitched 12 games for the Royals in 2022 and 2023 and is now in the Phillies farm system.

• Butch Alberts turns 76. He played 6 games for the Jays in 1978, hitting .278/.278/.333. Butch and Pat Kelly were traded to the Angels for Ron Fairly in 1977.

Tarik Skubal, the two-time defending American League Cy Young Award winner, will undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow, the Detroit Tigers announced May 4. No timetable for his return has been set, but a two-to-three-month recovery is typical for this type of procedure. That would potentially have the 29-year-old ace out of the rotation until sometime in July or August.  

What are loose bodies? About the Tarik Skubal injury

Loose bodies are fragments of bone, cartilage or both that have broken off and float freely inside a joint. In a pitcher’s elbow, they are typically caused by the extreme stress of throwing. The violent snapping motion of releasing a pitch, repeated thousands of times over a career, causes bone and cartilage to chip away. It usually comes from the back of the elbow. Those fragments can move around the joint, causing locking, catching, pain and loss of range of motion.  

It’s not an uncommon injury for pitchers. Skubal himself has had significant elbow problems before, including Tommy John surgery in 2017 and flexor tendon surgery in 2022. This procedure is generally considered less serious than either of those.  

How serious is Tarik Skubal's upcoming surgery?

Arthroscopic surgery is minimally invasive. Surgeons insert a small camera and instruments into the joint through tiny incisions to locate and remove the fragments. Recovery varies widely by each pitcher. Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep both had loose body surgery this spring within days of each other. Schwellenbach was placed on the 60-day IL and still had not thrown two months later. Waldrep was throwing bullpen sessions within weeks. Los Angeles Dodgers closer Edwin Diaz had the surgery in April and is expected to miss about four months.  

Skubal’s situation will be clearer once he consults with doctors and schedules the procedure.  

When the Mets unveiled their lineup for Monday's matchup with the Colorado Rockies, there was a new name at the top of the order: Juan Soto. 

For just the third time in his major league career, and the first time since the 2021 season, Soto finds himself batting leadoff, which manager Carlos Mendoza explained he'd been considering, especially with the injury to Francisco Lindor.

"It’s something that I’ve been thinking about the past few days, given a lot of the players on our injury list. Just got to a point of watching how other teams deploy their bullpen, not so much affecting Juan, but the guys behind him, and it’s forcing us to make decisions a lot earlier in games," Mendoza said. "We’re gonna get a guy who is gonna get on base, having Bo (Bichette) behind him. But I think it makes my decision a lot easier when you get the buy-in from the player. I didn’t bring it up to him until yesterday, but I was thinking about it for a few days. I was giving the team a chance to see how it was going to play out. 

"But when I brought it up to him yesterday, it was an easy yes. It was ‘I’ll do whatever the team needs,’ kind of like my conversation with him when we talked about the left field situation in the offseason, or the times that I hit him in the three hole or back to the two hole, it was an easy yes."

According to Mendoza, having Bichette hit behind Soto, instead of the other way around, makes it more difficult for teams to pitch around the slugger.

"If they bring a lefty, they know they’re going to have to face Bo behind him.," said the skipper.

The one potential downside to moving Soto up is that it could take away RBI opportunities, but Mendoza said that he's "also trying to create traffic" to lead to more runs as well. 

Mendoza was also asked how long he plans to stick with Soto in the leadoff spot, and the answer seems to be open-ended. 

For now, it's a wait-and-see situation. 

"It’s hard to tell. Personnel matters," Mendoza said. "I’m not putting a number of days, games. I’m just going to let it play out and see how it goes."

Soto is hitting .314 with a .915 OPS this season, belting three homers with eight RBI and eight runs scored.

The San Francisco Giants were still licking their wounds after the pasting the New York Yankees gave them opening week and it seemed as though their division rival the San Diego Padres would extend the misery. Instead, the Giants took 2 out of 3 and left San Diego with the same 2-4 record as the Padres. But, from this point, the two teams diverged.

The Padres exploded for an 18-7 record in April while the Giants went 11-15. The surprise was less that the Giants underperformed and more that the Padres were great. As I mentioned in the last preview:

It’s expected to be a down year for the Padres, right? The team’s finances are such that AJ Preller couldn’t make a big splash in free agency and years of huge trades has emptied their farm system. They scored just 7 runs in their opening series against the Tiges, tied for third with the Rockies and just behind the Diamondbacks, putting all four non-Dodger NL West teams in the bottom 5 of the sport in terms of runs scored. By wRC+, San Diego’s 66 puts them just outside that bottom 5 at 6th place. Sustainable for all these NL West teams? Probably not. 

San Diego sold at a valuation of $3.9 billion not long after the series and that seemed to gas them up to competing with the Dodgers for the top of the NL West. Except there’s been one cute little storyline accompanying all that winning:

Fernando Tatis Jr. has not hit a home run this season.

He’s slashing .261/.333/.311 in 139 PA (32 G) with just 4 doubles and a triple. He is 9-for-11 in stolen base attempts and he’s playing his normally great defense in right field, but why has the power disappeared? Has he caught the Matt Chapman Virus? Not according to Statcast, which puts him in the 99th percentile of Hard Hit rate. According to MLB.com’s Thomas Harrigan, “While he has been hitting rockets, he hasn’t been producing contact that’s conducive to slugging, recording the lowest pull and fly-ball rates of his career.“ He warns, ”At some point, though, the dam is going to break.“ Could that be at Oracle Park, where he’s enjoyed a .908 OPS thanks to 10 home runs, and 9 doubles in 178 career plate appearances?

While the Padres and their fans hold their breaths, Giants fans will be holding theirs to see if the team’s #1 hitting prospect, Bryce Eldridge, can finally hit his first major league home run. At the end of Spring Training during the exhibition schedule, those willing to attend a game that didn’t count got a look at Eldridge’s opposite field power in Oracle:

He’s been called up along with Jesus Rodriguez to give the Giants a season-saving shot of talent. In a 10-game, 37-PA cup of jav at the end of last year, he was 3-for-28 with a pair of doubles. He’s been striking out in 30% of his plate appearances for Triple-A Sacramento, though, and those seem likelier to stick than the .900+ OPS he’s also sporting. Still, who will homer first this season: Fernando Tatis Jr. or Bryce Eldridge?

Series overview

Who: San Diego Padres (20-13) vs. San Francisco Giants (13-21)
Where: Oracle Park | San Francisco, California
When: Monday & Tuesday at 6:45pm PT, Wednesday at 12:45pm PT
National broadcasts: None.

Projected starters
Monday: Randy Vasquez (RHP 3-0, 2.94 ERA) vs. Trevor McDonald (RHP season debut)
Tuesday: Walker Buehler (RHP 1-2, 5.40 ERA) vs. TBD
Wednesday: Matt Waldron (RHP 0-1, 9.88 ERA) vs. TBD

Players to watch

Padres (besides Fernando Tatis Jr.)

Randy Vasquez: Is the 27-year old good and breaking out or has he just had a few good starts here in the early season? Last year, he posted a 3.84 ERA in 133.2 IP (26 starts) but with a 4.85 FIP and just a 5.3 K/9. Through his first 6 starts here in 2026, he’s at 2.94 in 33.2 IP (3.45 FIP) and a 9.1 K/9. His game log looks like this:

• Start 1: 6 IP 0 ER 3 BB 8 K
• Start 2: 6 IP 1 ER 1 BB 3 K
• Start 3: 5.2 IP 1 ER 0 BB 8 K
• Start 4: 4 IP 4 ER 4 BB 6K
• Start 5: 7 IP 0 ER 0 BB 5 K
• Start 6: 5 IP 5 ER 3 BB 4 K

He’s allowed just 1 run on the road — okay, admittedly, just 2 starts on the road, but they were in Boston (Start 2) and Colorado (Start 5).

Still, his Statcast page is unremarkable, bordering on poor. It’s when you look at the raw stuff that you see the upside: a 95 mph fastball (has both a four-seamer and sinker) and wicked spin on his cutter, curveball, slider, and sweeper. He also throws a changeup. The Giants lineup has a tough assignment ahead of them, as is often the case.

Miguel Andujar: Along with Xander Bogaerts (138 wRC+) and Manny Machado (112), Andujar (161) has really helped the Padres hit their way to victory over the past month or so. He has just a 2.9% walk rate against a 15.7% strikeout rate, but an impressive .209 Isolated Slugging percentage. His .389 batting average on balls in play suggests this is all pretty unsustainable, and maybe the Giants will pitch him into a cold streak, but for now, this utility guy is hitting the ball hard (41.5 Hard Hit%) and he’s doing it by pulling the ball in the air at an elite rate (23.1%).

Mason Miller: He’s not a “lights out” closer, he’s a soul devouring one. On top of all the strikeouts (32 in 16.1 IP), he’s got a 65.2% groundball rate. If he gets the ball at the end of the game, and you haven’t already done so, give the Giants the L.

Giants (besides Bryce Eldridge)

Matt Chapman: Is he, like Willy Adames, the ghost of the player we once knew? Did Chapman and Adames fall down an elevator shaft at the team hotel and what we’re seeing on the field now is merely their ghosts? What’s happened to Chappy? What’s happened to Willy? Their career-threatening slumps are getting a little silly.

Trevor McDonald: The only named starter for this series as of publication, it will be exciting to see if he can pickup where he left off at the end of last season as sort of the “hey, why didn’t the Giants stick him in the rotation sooner?” guy. He’ll be going against a strong lineup who might not be all that impressed with 93-94 and a big ol’ curveball.

Who will close: It couldn’t possibly be Ryan Walker at this point, which means Caleb Kilian, Erik Miller, and Keaton Winn are on closer watch.

Tony Vitello watch

You know, Hunter Wendlestedt’s jab at Director of Pitching Frank Anderson was a really sudden reminder that the top step of the dugout crew for the Giants is not respected around the league. Makes sense. That’s got to be earned. At the same time, the disrespect is compounded by all the losing. I don’t know if these Giants have any resiliency, but when Tony Vitello’s answer in the post-game presser goes like this:

“It all kind of got pretty hot pretty quick,” Vitello said. “I was trying to figure out, can we take a look at it and what can be done from there. I kind of blacked out, to be honest with you amongst all the extra riffraff after something about ‘rah-rah’ and ‘pom-poms,’ which I assume was something to do with either college or my behavior in the dugout.

I become concerned about focus and priorities. What’s coming across is that Vitello & co. are overwhelmed right now, likely in over their heads, and they’re (especially Vitello) lurching from feeling to feeling. The abject failure of the roster has to be making this all seem surreal or nightmarish, so I have some sympathy, but at this point, I think I only know Vitello by his visceral reaction to events or situations and not really anything about his philosophy on baseball or the players under his management. Am I going to learn any of that in this three game series? Probably not, but I’ll be on the lookout.

Prediction

The Giants won’t get swept, but it might feel like they did. Unless they win the series, in which case we’ll all be a little crabby about how they didn’t get a badly needed sweep.

What had been a fantastic week for the Yankees became somber this Monday, as the news of John Sterling’s passing broke this morning. The radio broadcaster was the voice of the team for decades, retiring during the 2024 season but sticking around for their postseason run to the World Series. His iconic custom calls for every Yankee player who hit a home run were an endearing part of his legacy, and he’ll be sorely missed.

The season must go on, and the Yankees now have yet another reason to go and win it all. After a week that saw them win series against the Rangers and Orioles (with a chance to sweep a four-game set against the latter tonight), they made news by sending down shortstop Anthony Volpe at the end of his rehab assignment. Did the Yankees make the right call in keeping Caballero as their shortstop for now? Will we see Volpe return to the team before the first half concludes? Can George Lombard Jr. push his way into the picture? If you have questions like these, or anything else on your mind, send ‘em in for a chance to be featured in our Yankees mailbag.

Answers will run on Friday afternoon. All questions received by the night of May 7th will be considered. You can leave your submissions in the comment section below or by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

Tarik Skubal will miss Monday’s start against the Red Sox — and then some.

The Tigers ace will undergo surgery to remove loose bodies in his elbow, manager A.J. Hinch revealed ahead of the first game of the series in Detroit.

Skubal’s time away could look to be at least two months, though there is no official timetable yet.

Skubal’s last start was a possible indication that something was off with the two-time Cy Young Award winner.

He shook his left arm and rubbed his left elbow during an outing against the Braves last Wednesday. Hinch, assistant athletic trainer Kelly Rhoades and catcher Dillon Dingler visited the mound but Skubal stayed in the game after throwing a practice pitch.

The 29-year-old felt a “funny feeling on the outside of his arm,” Hinch said after Wednesday’s game.

He went on to strike out the side and finish the night with two runs allowed, both earned, and seven strikeouts across seven innings.

Before he was scratched from Monday’s start, Skubal didn’t seem worried about his health, saying “I’m all right.”

This season, two-time All-Star holds a 2.70 ERA with 45 strikeouts across seven starts.

After winning back-to-back American League Cy Youngs, Skubal was highly expected to be in the running again in 2026 — as well as be a potential trade chip after a record $32 million arbitration victory in the offseason.

Before the injury, the baseline was a new deal for Skubal was seen as $400 million, per The Post’s Jon Heyman.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros start a three-game series tonight when the teams meet at Daikin Park.

The Astros are dealing with a rash of injuries, which is why my Dodgers vs. Astros predictions have L.A. winning easily.

Here are my free MLB picks for Monday, May 4. 

Who will win Dodgers vs Astros today: Dodgers -1.5 (-125)

The Houston Astros have four starting pitchers injured at the moment, which is why Steven Okert is set to start in what will be a bullpen game.

Unfortunately for the Astros, their bullpen has posted a 6.69 ERA and 5.70 FIP over the past two weeks. 

It’s silly to expect them to suddenly turn things around against a loaded Los Angeles Dodgers lineup sporting the third-lowest strikeout rate over the past two weeks.

Houston’s offense is dealing with injuries as well, and will find it hard to score enough against Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Dodgers will cover the spread here.

COVERS INTEL: Over the last two weeks, Houston’ bullpen has allowed a 52.6% pull rate and 25% line drive rate, both among the worst marks in baseball.

Dodgers vs Astros Over/Under pick: Over 9 (-115)

The Astros should not get blanked tonight, especially with hitters like Yordan Alvarez in the lineup. 

Yamamoto has been somewhat fortunate, given his xERA of 3.98 is more than a run higher than his 2.87 ERA.

Opponents are having real success vs. his four-seam fastball, slugging .548 vs. a .257 mark a season ago. He’s also having less success with his splitter, a pitch he utilizes 30% of the time. 

Shohei Otahni is due to break out, and likely will against this Houston bullpen. His .053 ISO and .214 BABIP over the past week are starkly at odds with his .348 xwOBA. 

Dodgers vs Astros odds

• Moneyline: Dodgers -186 | Astros +178
• Run line: Dodgers -1.5 | Astros +1.5
• Over/Under: Over 9 | Under 9

Dodgers vs Astros trend

The Astros have hit the team total Over in 16 of their last 24 games at home (+6.95 Units / 24% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Dodgers vs. Astros.

How to watch Dodgers vs Astros and game info

Dodgers vs Astros latest injuries

Dodgers vs Astros weather

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Coming off a sweep on the road and clinching their eight-straight series win, the Atlanta Braves continue to lead the MLB with the best record, and make it their best start to the season since 1892.

This series against the Seattle Mariners shouldn’t warrant any different results.

2026 is the year of the Rookies, and JR Ritchie is no exception. Boasting a 2.92 ERA with the team across his two starts so far, he’s constantly developing his six-pitch arsenal, and will look for a strong start playing against the team he’s followed from a young age, just outside his hometown backyard of Bainbridge Island, Washington.

This will be a sort of homecoming for Ritchie, as he looks to pitch it like any game, but with the support of familiar fans and friendly surrounding the stadium to witness his start.

Ritchie told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Chad Bishop that he’s planning to stick to his routine and keep the goal in mind of putting the team in the best position to win.

Logan Gilbert is set to take the mound in Seattle. Holding a 4.03 ERA across 38 innings and seven games so far, he’s hoping to increase his win average and get past this rough patch starting the season, especially with a quality contact team like the Braves facing him at the plate.

Gilbert has a solid seven-pitch arsenal, with his 95.4 mph four-seamer leading the way, but he will have to find a way to utilize his breaking balls to their fullest. He pitches deep into games, but the longer he stays, the more opposing batters get used to his mix.

Getting out early and collecting as many strikes as possible will be the key to staying ahead of the game for Gilbert as he looks for a successful outing to bounce back.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Monday, May 4, 9:40 p.m. EDT

Location: T-Mobile Park, Seattle, WA

TV: BravesVision

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

The Dodgers managed to avoid a sweep against the Cardinals with a win on Sunday, facing a familiar face in Dustin May, but overall, the offense won’t have fond memories of their time in St. Louis, averaging 2.33 runs a game. For the second week in a row, Yoshinobu Yamamoto will face a favorable matchup as he takes the ball on Monday against the Houston Astros, who’ll roll with a bullpen game. That decision hardly comes as a surprise for a team dealing with the injury problems in the rotation that they have had throughout the year.

Tatsuya Imai wasn’t off to the best of starts to his career in the majors and is currently sidelined; the same goes for Hunter Brown, Houston’s ultratalented young ace—and that’s not to mention the impact of losing Framber Valdez in free agency. The left-hander Steven Okert will be the opener for the Astros, and while his numbers aren’t particularly flattering, with a 4.20 ERA, the real concern for Houston and appeal for the Dodgers is in what follows.

Also, without their expensive star closer, in their case, Josh Hader, the Astros have the worst bullpen in the big leagues presently—Houston enters play on Monday as the only team with relievers combining for an ERA in the sixes. Coming in at 6.20, the Astros are significantly higher than the number two on that list, the Angels, at 5.62. While their relievers have looked better as of late, particularly in the series against the Red Sox over the weekend, there’s still a lot of potential damage to be done here—the ideal environment for a slumping Dodger attack.

Monday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Astros
• Ballpark: Daikin Park, Houston
• Start time: 5:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Finally, the Guardians will play an AL Central team for the first time since early April when they played… also the Royals… and took a three-game series.

The Guardians are 18-17, 12th in team wRC+ at 99 (what a difference a weekend can make!), 23rd in baserunning runs above average at -0.9, 10th in Defense at -1.1, ninth in starting pitcher ERA at 3.79 (4.26 FIP), and 18th in bullpen ERA at 4.18 (4.03 FIP).

The Royals are 15-19, 23rd in team wRC+ at 94, 11th in baserunning runs above average at 0.5, 9th in Defense at 0.6, 14th in starting pitcher ERA at 4.01 (4.16 FIP), and 27th in bullpen ERA at 5.03 (4.89 FIP).

On paper, the Guardians look like the better team, but it’s close. The key would seem to be to get into the Royals’ bullpen as early as possible and take advantage of opportunities from that point on.

MATCHUPS:
Game One: Michael Wacha, RHP 3.13 ERA (3.93 FIP) vs. Tanner Bibee 4.08 ERA (4.36 FIP) 7:40PM ET
Game Two: Noah Cameron, LHP 5.40 ERA (4.47 FIP) vs. Gavin Williams 2.70 ERA (3.89 FIP) 7:40PM ET
Game Three: Cole Ragans, LHP 5.29 ERA (6.81 FIP) vs. Joey Cantillo 3.67 ERA (4.43 FIP) 7:40PM ET
Game Four: Seth Lugo, RHP 2.68 ERA (2.64 FIP) vs. Slade Cecconi, RHP, 6.56 ERA (5.84 FIP) 2:10PM ET

The Royals’ offense is led by Kyle Isbel 121 wRC+, Jac Caglianone 109 wRC+, Bobby Witt Jr 108 wRC+, Maikel Garcia 108 wRC+, Carter Jensen 106 wRC+ and Lane Thomas 105 wRC+.

The Guardians’ hitters feature Chase DeLauter 162 wRC+, Daniel Schneemann 147 wRC+, Austin Hedges 127 wRC+, David Fry 126 wRC+, Angel Martinez 116 wRC+, Rhys Hoskins 113 wRC+, Jose Ramirez 110 wRC+ and Brayan Rocchio 108 wRC+. It will be a big week for Hoskins and Fry to continue to dominate lefties and for Angel Martinez to get it going from that side, as well.

I would very much appreciate the Guardians finding a way to win at least two of the first three because that Lugo-Cecconi series ender looks like a HORRIBLE matchup. I know Stephen Vogt is paid to say he isn’t worried about Cecconi, but I am not and I am worried. I am confident he can be a good reliever if asked to, and we may be approaching the time where that ask needs to be made. Hopefully, saying all this means this is the series he will turn it around.

Prior to the season, the Rochester Red Wings, the Nats AAA affiliate, got a lot of hype. Their lineup featured the likes of Dylan Crews, Harry Ford, Abimelec Ortiz, Robert Hassell III, and Christian Franklin. Former second round pick Yohandy Morales got lost in the shuffle a bit, but he has been the Red Wings best hitter so far this season.

Morales is a noteworthy prospect in his own right. Back in 2023, he was the Nats second round pick out of the University of Miami, and received a $2.6 million signing bonus. Since becoming a pro, Morales has been solid, but not spectacular. In his two full seasons as a pro, he posted OPS marks of .784 and .769. Entering this season, he was still a notable prospect, but had lost a little bit of shine.

This year he is regaining that stock. Morales is hitting .330 with a .917 OPS in 31 AAA games. The 24 year old has been red hot in his last 18 games, hitting over .400 with 4 home runs. Morales splits his time between third and first base, two positions where the Nats have not been especially productive. With how he is hitting, Morales could get called up before too long.

Yohandy Morales’ best attribute is that he absolutely hits the snot out of the ball. His average exit velocity is just under 92 MPH, which is very good. Morales’ 90th percentile exit velocity, a good measure for raw power, is 108.2 MPH, which ranks in the 95th percentile of AAA hitters. His max exit velocity of 113.1 MPH is also elite. Morales is a hard hit machine, and that allows him to get a lot of hits despite having some swing and miss issues.

Right now, Morales’ BABIP is .426, which is an unsustainable number. However, he is naturally going to be a guy who runs a high batting average on balls in play due to his exit velocities and the fact he hits a lot of ground balls and low liners. His career BABIP in the minors is .379. This allows Morales to hit for average despite striking out over 25% of the time.

However, those ground balls are part of what makes me nervous about Morales’ profile. While he is mashing right now, I wonder how he will translate to the big leagues. Not many MLB hitters have success with a high strikeout rate, a high ground ball rate and a high chase rate. Even this year, Morales is hitting the ball on the ground 51.4% of the time and striking out 26.1% of the time. 

I have a feeling that there will be a serious learning curve for Morales once he hits the big leagues. Better pitchers will exploit these flaws in his game and not as many of his ground balls will find holes. With how he is performing though, he deserves to get a chance at some point though.

This season Morales has actually spent most of his time at third base, which is interesting. In the previous two seasons, Morales has spent more time at first than third, but that has changed this year. Some of that is likely due to playing with Abimelec Ortiz, but it is still something worth noting. 

With Brady House struggling on both sides of the ball, there could be a path to playing time for Morales if he keeps this up. He is no longer one of the sexy new toys in the Nats system, so he is going to have to bang down the door if he wants to get to the big leagues. That is exactly what he is doing right now.

Right now, he is the 28th ranked prospect in the system, and has slowly been falling down the ranks the last couple years. Between his warts at the plate and his questionable defensive profile, there are some serious questions about Morales’ game.

For him to reach his ceiling, he is going to have to hit the ball in the air more. He hits the ball hard enough to be a big power guy, but those home run totals have never popped due to his batted ball profile. Morales has only hit 27 homers in over 1,000 minor league at bats. 

I still have plenty of unanswered questions about Morales. Can he play third base at a big league level? What will the strikeout numbers look like in the big leagues? Can his Babip stay super high in the MLB and will he tap into his power? However, with the way he is hitting, Yohandy Morales has earned the opportunity to answer some of these questions one way or the other. He deserves a call up if he keeps hitting like this and I am curious to see how he does when he gets the call.

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The 2026 Boston Red Sox nightmare rolls on tonight with a trip to the Detroit Tigers, and Tarik Skubal is primed to add to the misery.

At 13-21, Boston is rock bottom in the AL East, and my Red Sox vs Tigers predictions signal home cooking for Detroit here, behind a dominant Skubal start.

Read on for my free MLB picks for Monday, May 4. 

Who will win Red Sox vs Tigers today: Tigers (-191)

The Detroit Tigers have issues to resolve on the road, but they’ve been a different animal at Comerica Park through the first six weeks of the season. Boasting a 12-3 mark at home, Detroit is understandably favored here against a Boston Red Sox squad that’s lost four of its past five contests.

The Tigers have a big edge in tonight’s pitching matchup, as Tarik Skubal faces fellow lefty Payton Tolle — and the hosts are 3-1 in their ace’s last four starts.

There’s also the benefit of having seen Skubal rip through this Boston lineup last month, racking up 10 strikeouts.

COVERS INTEL: The Red Sox have lost each of Tolle’s last five outings, and he’s leaked 2+ runs inside the first three innings in three of his past four appearances.

Red Sox vs Tigers Over/Under pick: Under 7 (-120)

With the Under hitting in five of Detroit’s last six games, I’m going back to the well again today and picking a low-scoring battle, especially as Boston has scored just eight runs across its past five contests.

Though Tolle is a bit of a wildcard, having logged five career starts, he’s only allowed six hits in his two 2026 outings. Meanwhile, you know what to expect from Skubal, who enters with a 2.70 ERA and should feast on the Red Sox's struggling lineup.

It's also worth noting that the Under is 5-2 in the last seven meetings between these teams.

Red Sox vs Tigers odds

• Moneyline: Red Sox +200 | Tigers -186
• Run line: Red Sox +1.5 (-140) | Tigers -1.5 (+120)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 | Under 7.5

Red Sox vs Tigers trend

The Red Sox are 7-11 on the road this season. Find more MLB betting trends for Red Sox vs. Tigers.

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Fifteen days ago, the home clubhouse inside Daikin Park was quiet. Trying to avoid a sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Astros rallied for three runs in the eighth inning, only to lose in the tenth.

At the time, Houston was 8-15 with a 6.11 team ERA and what felt like an entire roster on the injured list. They were in a free fall.

15 days later later, that free fall appears to be over.

The Astros have gone 6-6 in their last 12 games, nine of which have come on the road. They took two of three in Cleveland before dropping two of three to the Yankees, then rebounded after losing the first two in Baltimore, falling to a season-worst nine games below .500, to win three of their next four, capped by Sunday’s extra-inning victory in Boston.

How has the team stabilized during this 12-game stretch? A pitching staff that once looked depleted, seemingly losing an arm to the injured list every day, has been merely below average as it gets healthier.

Houston’s 5.06 team ERA over the last 12 games ranks 23rd in baseball. That’s not good, and not where they want to be in September, but it is progress. So is the improvement from Mike Burrows and Bryan Abreu, with the latter tossing two scoreless innings on Sunday at Fenway.

The emergence of Spencer Arrighetti, along with three solid outings from Peter Lambert, has also provided a boost.

The Astros’ pitching staff is still far from whole, but it is trending in the right direction. Tatsuya Imai is set to make his second rehab start this week with Triple-A Sugar Land, and Josh Hader could reclaim the closer’s role when he is eligible to return from the injured list on May 24. Hunter Brown and Cristian Javier may also be back sometime in June.

Two years ago, the Astros went 15-14 in May after a 9-19 start in March and April. That set the stage for a 17-8 June and an AL West title.

The key to climbing out of an early-season hole isn’t doing it overnight, it’s stopping the digging in the first place.

It’s too early to tell if the Astros have stopped digging or merely taken a break from doing so, but a six-game stretch against the Dodgers and Reds could provide an answer.