Category: Sports News

Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said that there is “definitely some level of concern” that the calf strain that landed him on the 10-day injured list could see him miss a decent stretch of the season, while refusing to give any indication of a timeline.

“I’ll be out for a minute, I don’t know how long,” Lindor told reporters outside the Mets’ clubhouse before Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Twins.

Lindor sustained the injury when he scored from first base on a double during the previous night’s win, adding that he felt the injury soon after he touched third base, and it wasn’t an issue before Wednesday’s game.

“I was in some pain, but gotta score,” he said, adding that after he got up from his slide, he was “encouraged” that he was able to walk off the field and down the tunnel to the clubhouse.

As far as when he will return, manager Carlos Mendoza said earlier that while a timetable at this junction is hard to pin down, the Mets “do know that he's going to be down for a while."

Asked directly if he felt he would be back this season, Lindor was emphatic: “A hundred percent. A hundred percent. Yeah, ah… yeah. It kills me not being on the field, but I trust the trainers, and I know they have good care here. 

"And I’ll be back, I’ll be back. Hopefully sooner rather than later.”

He added that he “hopes” to be back before the All-Star break, but this injury is “one of those that I gotta go through the process on a daily basis.” 

Lindor said he’s the kind of person who “doesn’t want to know timetables” or grades on the severity of the strain.

“It just plays with my head,” the shortstop said. “I trust the trainers here; we have really good trainers. I have really good people at the house as well that help me get back on the field, hopefully soon.”

On timetables, he added later that he would ignore any discussion of that. “Let’s just stay off that,” he said of any talk of dates. “I’m a person that live day by day, and I hate living in the future. So focus on what I got today, whatever we’re gonna do at some point today. And can’t wait to go watch the boys and win a game tonight.”

Asked later if he had a goal of when he’d like to be back, Lindor said, “The goal is to win the World Series. That’s the one goal.”

Lindor said he experienced a calf injury on his other leg during the offseason a few years back, and it “took some time.” But this time, he added, with a slightly hopeful tone, “I feel better today than I did last time, but we’ll see how everything goes.”

“Trust what’s happening on a daily basis,” he said of what he learned from the previous injury. “When it’s soft tissue stuff, you just gotta trust what’s happening that day and don’t worry about tomorrow.” 

Lindor said he hasn’t gone through the full details of how his initial rehab program will take shape over the coming days, but he trusts what the Mets have in the training room.

“It’s gonna be one of those where every day you just gotta show up and give 100 percent of what you got that day,” he said. “And understanding that rehab is not a linear thing, it’s gonna be ups and downs with that. The good thing is that we’re gonna be playing games and I’ll be supporting my guys.”

Of course, catching a good break just hasn’t been in the cards for the Mets or Lindor this season. His offseason began with elbow surgery and included a broken hamate bone that required surgery at the start of spring training

“It was a long offseason,” Lindor said. “With that being said, we’re athletes, we depend on our body, stuff like this happens, it’s part of the game, it comes with the territory. And you gotta toughen up and try to find a way to get healthy and be on the field. 

“Even though the last two weeks weren't the best for us, we were still going through the process and just loving each other and being there for each other, and there wasn’t a day that I took for granted being on the field.”

And the latest injury came on the day Juan Soto returned to the lineup after missing 15 games with a calf strain of his own, after Lindor had two hits and appeared to be breaking out of an early-season funk at the plate, and as the team finally snapped a miserable 12-game losing skid.

“Whenever I get to miss games, it’s disappointing, but, at the end of the day, I am super encouraged by what I saw yesterday,” he said. “I feel like the group is in the right direction and the guys are hungry, they’re ready to start winning games, and what you saw yesterday felt like it was a new day.

“...I’m looking forward to seeing what the guys are gonna be doing and me cheering them on and pulling for them. It sucks to be on the side, but I’ll be there with them, probably just as nervous as every fan out there. When you’re watching the games and not playing, I get more nervous than when I am actually playing.”

In the corresponding roster move, the Mets brought Ronny Mauricio back from Triple-A, and Lindor expressed his confidence that the 25-year-old can bring “a lot” to the table and help the team win in his absence.

“I’m looking forward to seeing him at shortstop and helping us win games. He’s a good player,” Lindor said of Muaricio. “He’s a great competitor, he brings a good energy, and he’s gonna play well. He played well in spring training, the day that he was here, he played well.

“For however many days I’m out, I know the team is gonna be in a good spot.”

TV: NESN

First Pitch: 6:10 p.m. ET

The Red Sox are looking to salvage a series against their most hated rival on Thursday at Fenway Park.

The Yankees are looking to bury them.

Boston will roll out yet another interesting lineup in the series finale, as they remain without Roman Anthony (back soreness). Jarren Duran, who started to get things going during the middle game of the series, will return to the leadoff spot in what could be a sign of things to come:

New York hasn’t exactly been crushing the baseball all series, but the offense has put enough runs on the board to pull their weight in a series where the pitching staff has been superb.

Payton Toll will get the start for the good guys, having been called up to make it three consecutive left-handers in the series. Brayan Bello and Garrett Crochet were both pushed back and will start this weekend against the Baltimore Orioles. Tolle has a 3.00 ERA in 15.0 innings for Triple-A Worcester in 2026.

Cam Schlittler is probably going to be as annoying as he always is, which is to say he’ll strike out a ton of guys and then post something snarky on the internet afterwards. Schlittler has a 1.95 ERA this season, having struck out 36 batters in 27.2 innings.

A four-game series within the division on the road is always interesting. It was especially interesting considering that the Washington Nationals were heading into this series having scored the third-most runs in the National League (fourth overall) with a MLB-leading 22 of those runs coming in the first inning of their games played so far. It was clear that if the Braves were going to get greedy and think about winning this series, the pitching would have to perform.

Fortunately, Atlanta had a low bar to clear when it came to their pitching staff being better than Washington’s. That’s because as good as the Nationals had been at the plate, they had been just as bad on the mound. Considering how the Braves had been swinging the bat heading into this series, this did seem like a prime opportunity for Atlanta to keep on cooking at the plate and keep on putting some breathing room between themselves and the Phillies and Mets, who had both gotten off to very sluggish starts to begin this season.

The onus was seemingly on Atlanta’s lineup to out-slug CJ Abrams, James Wood and the rest of the potent Nationals lineup. Let’s take a look at how things went down over the past four games for the Braves:

Monday, April 20

Braves 9, Nationals 4

The Nationals scored two runs in the first inning because this is apparently they do, now. The Braves didn’t respond until the fourth inning, which is when Matt Olson cracked one out to dead-center field for a two-run shot that tied the game up at two. Daylen Lile then responded in the bottom half of the fourth with a solo shot of his own that gave the Nationals the lead and it sure seemed like we were in for a topsy-turvy game.

Fortunately, once the bullpen entered the game in relief of Bryce Elder (who was unfortunate to end up with four runs conceded as one of those came on an error), they were able to make sure that the Nationals didn’t do any more damage after that. That was a good thing since the Braves were able to eventually get to Jake Irvin for four runs (three earned as well) while he was out there for five innings. Unlike Atlanta’s ‘pen, Washington’s relief corps was unable to keep the Braves quiet.

A five-run sixth inning wound up being the turning point in favor of the Braves in this contest and then Atlanta added a couple more insurance runs in the ninth inning in order to cruise to a five-run victory. Drake Baldwin came up with the huge knock in the sixth that broke the game open, which isn’t surprising because this is Drake Baldwin we’re talking about. This ended up being a win on multiple fronts as Ronald Acuña Jr. withstood two HBPs (one of which was a scary one that smacked him on the wrist) and ended up escaping with no structural damage — he even started for the rest of the series.

Tuesday, April 21

Nationals 11, Braves 4

The Nationals scored three runs in the first inning because this is apparently what they do, now. Unfortunately for the Braves, Washington was far from done as they followed up on their first-inning damage with consistent offense that eventually crescendoed for them in the final two innings of this one. Reynaldo López got the hook in the second inning after giving up a homer to James Wood and a single immediately afterwards. The good news is that Jose Suarez, Dylan Dodd (who would unfortunately have to go on the IL the next night) and Aaron Bummer were able to keep the Braves in the game as they attempted to chip away at another early deficit.

Unfortunately, this game turned once Ian Hamilton and Joel Payamps entered the contest. They both gave up three runs in their appearances and that allowed the Nationals to pull away while the Braves were unable to keep up in order to make it a truly crazy slugfest. Instead, this was another example of how this Nationals lineup should be taken seriously and is going to win this team a fair share of ballgames via mashing their way out of any trouble. The Braves did mash their way into cutting the deficit to just one run in the fifth inning (with homers from Drake Baldwin and Eli White powering them forward) but that was as close as Atlanta got on this night.

Wednesday, April 22

Braves 8, Nationals 6

The Nationals scored four runs in the first inning because this is apparently what they do, now. This time, the Braves responded right away in order to back up the newly-recalled Didier Fuentes after he suffered another early-game ambush from Washington. The game was tied up at four runs apiece by the top of the second inning, as a two-run homer from Michael Harris II and a sacrifice fly from Ronald Acuña Jr. combined with a first-inning dinger from Drake Baldwin to bring the Braves back on level terms.

The Braves weren’t done crushing the ball, either. Money Mike got another crack at it in the very next frame and while this homer wasn’t as majestic as the one that he hit into the upper deck in the second inning, it still did the job done in putting the Braves in front at 5-4. Matt Olson got his turn in the next frame, as his big fly gave the Braves plenty of space and also doomed Zack Littell to a second-consecutive outing where he gave up at least eight runs. Oof!

Didier Fuentes only went three innings but his performance was encouraging enough to think that he’s absolutely got the stuff to eventually do well at the big league level. For now, he’s back down at Triple-A while consensus MLB Top 100 prospect JR Richie ended up getting a chance on Thursday afternoon.

Thursday, April 23

Braves 7, Nationals 2

The Nationals scored in the first inning because this is apparently what they do, now. Indeed, James Wood gave JR Ritchie a “Welcome to The Show” moment as he took the very first pitch that Ritchie threw as a big leaguer and promptly deposited it into the seats in right field for a leadoff homer. Fortunately, Ritchie proceeded to lock down the Nats from that point forward and ended up delivering a fantastic debut.

I think we’ll all take seven innings, seven strikeouts and just two runs allowed on five hits from a debuting rookie, won’t we? That’s exactly what we got from Ritchie who looked very, very good against a lineup that had been previously mashing the ball. If your only blemishes in your debut are giving up homers to the two best players that the Nats have to offer (CJ Abrams homered as well) then you are doing just fine.

This one actually stayed close while both starters were out there since Cade Cavalli was able to provide a sorely-needed stabilizing presence for Washington’s pitching staff. His only two blemishes came on a sacrifice fly from Ozzie Albies and an RBI single from Michael Harris II — whose day was unfortunately cut short after he had to leave the game in the middle of the seventh inning after feeling some tightness in his left quad.

By the time Mike had left the game, the Braves were in Washington’s bullpen and as we’d seen on multiple occasions during this series, Washington’s bullpen getting involved usually meant good news for Atlanta. Cionel Pérez was unable to maintain the 2-2 deadlock as the Braves broke out for three runs against him and eventually ended up plating four runs total in the seventh in order to turn the game on a dime. Hopefully Harris will be fine as well, since he had a big game (and a big series as a whole) and it’d truly be a shame if he had to experience a lengthy absence right when he’s starting to really heat up.

Ozzie Albies eventually added a solo homer of his own in the ninth inning to add some more breathing room and also cap off on a huge day at the plate for himself. That eventually led to ol’ Cookie Carrasco finishing things off in the ninth inning in order to gave the Braves a four-game series win on the road. Fantastic.

Going 5-2 on a seven game road trip that consisted of nothing but divisional games is like picking up a dollar bill on the floor that you forgot about. Winning a four-game series on the road is like picking up a tenner. Doing it against a divisional foe in the form of the Nationals is like picking up a twenty. You can upgrade that to a fifty dollar bill when you consider that the Marlins aren’t doing so hot, themselves, and both the Phillies and the Mets are currently spinning their wheels in the mud. The Atlanta Braves could not ask for a more ideal way to get this season started as they are heading in the right direction while the two other preseason conteners for the division are seemingly heading in the complete opposite direction.

You always have to take April results with a grain of salt since there’s so much baseball to be played but at the same time, we all know from experience that you’d much rather be in a position where you can simply just maintain your position for the rest of the season rather than having to spend weeks or even months trying to dig yourself out of an early-season hole. The Phillies and Mets are going to have to do some serious digging to get back to ground-level while the Braves are sprinting and putting an early gap between them and their two usual foes.

So while it’s tough to say what the long-term impact of this run of form for everybody in the NL east will be, it’s certainly great that the Braves are in the position that they’re currently in. They took care of business on this road trip, they’ve already gone 8-2 in the first 10 games of this 13-game NL East gauntlet and they’ll have a further opportunity to keep on kicking the Phillies while they’re down now that they’ve got a home series against Philadelphia coming up. It will be very important for the Braves to keep this run going in the same direction in order to make sure that any path back for the Phillies will be as difficult as possible.

For now, you’ve got to tip your cap to the Nationals for continuing to swing the bat very well. Their pitching staff may not be any good but it’s clear that Washington won’t be a doormat for teams to walk all over during this season. The quality of Washington’s offense and Miami’s pitching will likely make things tougher for the Braves within the division but that’ll also be just as annoying for New York and Philadelphia to deal with as well. This division is going to be an interesting one going forward but hey, as long as the Braves can find a way to stay on top of the pile then I think we’ll all take “interesting” over “frustrating.”

Texas Rangers lineup for April 23, 2026 against the Pittsburgh Pirates: starting pitchers are Jacob deGrom for the Rangers and Bubba Chandler for the Pirates.

It is the rubber game of the series, and the Rangers are looking to bounce back from yesterday’s unpleasantness to take the series. Alejandro Osuna makes his season debut.

The lineup:

Nimmo — RF

Pederson — DH

Seager — SS

Burger — 1B

Jung — 3B

Carter — CF

Jansen — C

Smith — 2B

Osuna — LF

7:05 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -160 favorites.

Michael Harris II has had a fantastic series as he has absolutely feasted upon the pitching that the Washington Nationals have served up for him. Hopefully, he’ll be able to take that with him back to Atlanta instead of the IL, as Harris has been removed from Thursday afternoon’s game ahead of the bottom of the seventh inning.

We’ll let you know later what’s going on, since it wasn’t exactly apparent what was going on with Harris while he was out there. He ran the bases fine, so maybe something tightened up on him while he was in the dugout? That’s as much speculation as I’ll give you.

We will continually update this post as the the situation continues to develop.

[UPDATE 3:10 p.m ET]: The Braves have described it as “left quad tightness.” Hoo boy. Keep your fingers crossed, folks.

[UPDATE 4:53 p.m. ET]: Money Mike talked to the media after the game and apparently the precautionary removal was just that: Precautionary. He’s feeling good and is expecting to play tomorrow. We’ll see if Walt Weiss gives him a breather in order to make sure he doesn’t exert it too much but as we just saw with Ronald Acuña Jr. and his scare, there’s a very good chance that we will indeed see Harris in the lineup for the series opener against the Phillies on Friday night.

The Brewers nearly won a pitching duel between Tarik Skubal and Brandon Sproat, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. Milwaukee is now two games over .500 after dropping the final two games against Detroit.

Rookie standout Kevin McGonigle led off the bottom of the first with a double. Sproat got the next two batters to ground out, but his first pitch to Tigers cleanup hitter Riley Greene was a slow curveball that Greene crushed for a two-run homer. Not an ideal start for a team facing Skubal.

Skubal, one of the best pitchers in the game, did what he was expected to do against a top-heavy Brewers lineup. Through six innings, he’d allowed just four hits — two of them bunts — and one run. Skubal didn’t give up a single hit his first time through the order, but Milwaukee got on the board the second time around thanks to back-to-back doubles from William Contreras and Gary Sánchez in the fourth.

Meanwhile, Sproat also settled in after the first inning. He allowed just one other hit — a single to Javier Baez — through five innings, keeping it a 2-1 game.

Sproat retired Gleyber Torres to start the sixth, but walked designated hitter Colt Keith. With Greene coming up again, Pat Murphy pulled Sproat in favor of lefty Aaron Ashby — a move that didn’t pay off as Greene singled to advance Keith to third. Dillon Dingler then grounded into a forceout to make it a two-run ballgame.

As Skubal got deeper into the game, the Brewers started making him work more and more. David Hamilton and Brandon Lockridge had back-to-back bunt singles to start the sixth, but Brice Turang grounded out and Contreras hit into a double play to end the inning.

Milwaukee threatened again in the seventh. After Sánchez led off with a bloop single, Luis Matos went fishing for a changeup low-and-away, grounding it into right field to put runners on first and second.

The next batter up was Blake Perkins, who swung out of his shoes for strike one. He tried to lay down a bunt on the second pitch, a fastball, but it ran inside and he wasn’t able to get his hands out of the way. Strike two. Perkins took ball three high, then fouled off strike three. Skubal’s fifth pitch was a beautiful changeup that dropped just out of the strike zone, but Perkins held off to work the count full.

On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Skubal tried to blow a high-and-inside fastball by Perkins, but he turned on it and sent it down the left field line for a double. Sánchez and Matos both scored, tying the game at 3 and prompting Tigers manager A.J. Hinch to come out and take the ball.

Lefty reliever Tyler Holton came in to face Luis Rengifo, who grounded out for the first out. Joey Ortiz, once again hitting with a runner in scoring position, came through with a single into left field. That put runners on the corners for David Hamilton, who grounded a single that scored Perkins and put the Brewers ahead by a run.

Trevor Megill came in for the seventh and got three straight groundouts. Angel Zerpa quickly recorded the first out of the eighth, but pinch-hitter Jahmai Jones tied the game with a solo home run. Milwaukee couldn’t score in the top of the ninth, so Abner Uribe came on to try and force extra innings. His first four pitches went for strikes, but the next three were balls, and Spencer Torkelson sent the eighth pitch into the bleachers for a walk-off home run.

The Brewers are back home tomorrow for a three-game set against the 14-10 Pirates. Paul Skenes will be on the mound for Pittsburgh opposite Brandon Woodruff. First pitch is 6:40 p.m.

Texas Rangers relief pitcher Robert Garcia has been placed on the 15 day injured list retroactive to April 20, the team announced today. To take his place on the active roster, the team has purchased the contract of pitcher Peyton Gray from AAA Round Rock. To make room for Gray on the 40 man roster, the Rangers have designated catcher Willie MacIver for assignment.

In addition, the team announced that Carter Baumler, currently on the injured list, is beginning a rehab assignment with Round Rock.

Garcia last pitched on April 16 — a week ago. He has been experiencing shoulder soreness, and the Rangers had held off on making on i.l. move as they felt there was a decent chance he would be recovered in time to avoid an i.l. stint. However, some combination of his shoulder not improving and the Rangers needing a fresh arm in the pen has resulted in his being put on the injured list now.

Gray, a 30 year old righthander, has never pitched in the major leagues. After being released by the Kansas City Royals in 2021, he pitched for Milwaukee in the independent American Association in 2022 and 2023, and pitched in the Mexican Pacific Winter League in 2023-24 and 2024-25. He spent the 2025 since with the Rangers, putting up a 3.58 ERA in 73 innings over 45 appearances between Frisco and (mostly) Round Rock.

Gray had an impressive camp this spring, and in 12.2 innings over seven appearances for Round Rock this year, he has yet to allow a run, and has 15 Ks against two walks.

MacIver was claimed on waivers by the Rangers over the winter, and has stuck around on the 40 man roster as a third catcher, in case one of the two major league catchers got injured.

As for Baumler, as a Rule 5 pick, I imagine the Rangers will not rush him on his rehab assignment, and so long as help in the majors isn’t needed, he’ll get several appearances in the minors on this assignment.