Category: Sports News

The “American League-leading” Minnesota Twins are 9-7 after two straight series wins over the Tigers and the Blue Jays. It’s been certainly impressive to see the team fight back after three straight series losses, and doing so without needing the heroics of Byron Buxton or Luke Keaschall. Instead, infielder Tristan Gray has been a solid contributor. After hitting his first career grand slam against the Rays last week, he had another nice game yesterday against the Blue Jays, with a three-run homer. However, it can’t be all sunshine and daisies, as Royce Lewis has now hit the 10-day IL with a left knee sprain. The Red Sox and the Reds are coming to Target Field this week, and the Twins will hope to continue the good vibes at home.

The Past Week on Twinkie Town:

• Check out The Feed, where you can add your discussions about the Twins!
• We’re starting a new segment called Daily Questions! Provide your opinion on the Twins and debate with the community!
• Game threads and recaps are back! Commiserate with your fellow fans as we experience the season together.
• Zach Koenig checks on the Twins’ record against lefties over the past decade.

Elsewhere in Twins Territory:

• Bobby Nightengale at the Star Tribune checks in on old friend Louis Varland and how he’s fit in with his new team in Toronto.
• Tom Schreier at Zone Coverage looks at whether Brooks Lee is finally ready to be a difference-maker for the Twins.
• Cody Schoenmann at Twins Daily looks to see what is driving Austin Martin’s success this season.

In the World of Baseball:

• As mentioned earlier, the Twins are leading the AL with a 9-7 record, tied with the Cleveland Guardians. The A’s, Orioles, Rangers, Rays, and Yankees are all right behind at 8-7, reminding us not to get THAT excited. The gap between first and last is just three games.
• The National League has a bit of a bigger gap between teams, with the Dodgers (who else?) atop the league at 11-4 and the Braves, Padres right behind at 10-6. Probably the most surprising news is seeing the Pirates at 9-6.
• Will Leitch at MLB.com provides his new power rankings. You might need to scroll down a bit before you see the Twins though.

Because we're in an era where people tend to treat each one of the 162 regular season games like a regular season NFL game, the level of panic surrounding the Mets (and other teams that are struggling early this season) is unhealthily high. 

But that doesn't mean concern shouldn't exist.

The Mets sit at 7-9 entering play Monday, and are on a five-game losing streak that came at Citi Field against the Diamondbacks and Athletics.

Teams, especially ones that are struggling offensively, will often look listless. Players aren't going to be pumped up about 78 mph grounders and pop-ups, and it's impossible to make things happen on the bases when they're usually empty.

With the Mets' five-game losing streak have come accusations that the team has no heart or doesn't care. Of course, there is no reason to believe that's the case. 

The many mental mistakes by Francisco Lindorearly this seasonand a recent string of misplays/not being able to make tough plays by others on defense are likely anomalies. 

But it has been ugly, with New York mustering just nine runs during its five-game losing streak, which included being shut out by the A's twice.

For the Mets, what has hurt them the most is an offense that -- withoutJuan Soto for the last 10 days -- features just two regular players who have an OPS above .690.

A deeper look at the numbers tells a fuller story, though the sample size remains small.

Lindor has a .572 OPS, but his strikeout rate is a tick down and his walk rate is way up -- at 13.3 percent, which is the best of his career. His line drive percentage (29.4) is also better than his career average and the best it's been as a Met. So he is clearly not lost at the plate.

One thing that is a bit low is his fly ball rate (21.6 percent), which is notably down. Coming off hamate surgery, there was a possibility that Lindor's power would suffer for a bit, as sports surgeon Deepak Chona explained to SNY in February.

"The amount of time varies," Chona said about the power aspect, "but generally projects to six weeks after returning."

Francisco Alvarez, who had the same surgery as Lindor last season, struggled over his first 20 games post-surgery, slashing just .232/.321/.304 with one home run, two doubles, and a .625 OPS. But from May 26 through the end of the season, Alvarez excelled, hitting .266/.347/.503 (.850 OPS) with 10 homers, 10 doubles, and one triple in 56 games. And Alvarez's season OPS of .787 was the best of his young career.

It has also been a bit of a struggle for Bo Bichette, but he has been very good since the calendar flipped to April, slashing .304/.360/.413 in 50 plate appearances.

The main area for concern with Bichette would be the strikeouts piling up. He has fanned 19 times already in 16 games after striking out just 91 times in 139 games in 2025. Given how Bichette's career has gone to this point and his admission that he was pressing a bit early on, it's fair to believe he'll get he strikeouts under control once he stops expanding the zone as much.

Then there's Jorge Polanco, who usually sprays line drives all over the field, but has been very pull-happy to start the season. Polanco, who has been limited by an Achilles issue that seems to be resolving, has also hit into tough luck, with his .205 BABIP being the worst of his career and nearly 100 points lower than his career BABIP of .295.

If there's one key cog whose struggles can't be explained away, it's Marcus Semien, who has just two hits in his last 23 at-bats and an OPS+ of 52 in 64 plate appearances this season.

Semien, whose biggest contribution is likely to come with the glove at second base and who will ordinarily hit near the bottom of the lineup, doesn't need to be a star again. But his early difficulties at the plate are alarming.

The 35-year-old's bat speed is continuing to tick down, and is in the 6th percentile. Meanwhile, Semien's xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, and barrel percentage are all well below average, and worse than they were last season. His walk rate, which was 9.4 percent and in the 63rd percentile in 2025, is 6.3 percent and in the 23rd percentile in 2026.

Elsewhere on the roster, there shouldn't be much cause for concern.

Despite a clunker by Kodai Senga on Saturday, which included being let down by his defense, a rotation fronted by Nolan McLean, Freddy Peralta, and Clay Holmes -- with Christian Scott and Jonah Tong as depth options -- should be just fine.

The same goes for a bullpen that might be one late-inning arm short at the moment, but got strong starts to the season from Devin Williams, Brooks Raley, Huascar Brazoban, Tobias Myers, and Luke Weaver (before a few tough outings for Weaver during the aforementioned homestand).

The relief unit should get a big boost with the return of A.J. Minter (perhaps in a few weeks), and could be jolted by someone like prospect Ryan Lambert a bit further down the line.

That takes us back to the offense, which could get Soto back at some point in the next 10 days or so.

Should there be some concern? Yes, especially when it comes to a player like Semien. But there's no reason to believe that run production will be much of an issue for this team, especially when Soto returns. And the advanced numbers bear that out.

It's possible it takes a bit longer for things to stabilize, with the Soto-less Mets facing Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Tuesday and Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday, but there is no reason to panic.

Fangraphs has released their list of the top 38 prospects in the Texas Rangers’ farm system for 2026.

The Rangers’ minor league system is not a strength right now, but the folks at Fangraphs do see some things to feel good about. In particular, they are more bullish than most, I think, on Yolfran Castillo, who they have second in the system currently, and Paxton Kling, who they identify as a dark horse top 100 candidate for next year.

Overall, the system is heavy on arms and light on impact position players (outside of Sebastian Walcott, of course).

And speaking of prospects, Thomas Nestico has his updated top 100 prospect list out. Both Walcott and Caden Scarborough make the cut, although Walcott drops in this update due to the elbow injury that is costing him most of the 2026 season.

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers are going through some things in the early going, including both of their premium free agent acquisitions this winter. Kyle Tucker hasn’t really hit much at all yet, and closer Edwin Díaz struggled and has lost velocity on his fastball to the point that the Dodgers are trying to figure out an issue they insist is not injured-list worthy just yet.

But it’s a testament to the depth that even with the hiccups, the Dodgers keep racking up wins, including winning two series last week, first over the Blue Jays in Toronto in the second-earliest World Series rematch, then against the Rangers at Dodger Stadium.

Batter of the week

Shohei Ohtani broke another Ichiro Suzuki record (see below) and also upped the power, including leadoff home runs in back-to-back games over the weekend against Texas.

Honorable mention goes to Dalton Rushing, who had a four-hit game with two home runs in Toronto and is off to a terrific start; and to Andy Pages, who’s been the Dodgers’ best hitter for the season to date.

Pitcher of the week

Yoshinobu Yamamoto continues to be rock solid, including a win last week over the Blue Jays with a lone run allowed in six innings, with six strikeouts. He’s pitched four times at Rogers Centre in Toronto, and won all four games. You might remember the first three.

Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski also had their best starts this week, supporting a top three in the rotation that has gone exactly six innings every time out so far this season. The starters have set the pitching staff and team up quite well through the first five series of the season.

“Right now, these guys are allowing us to deploy the bullpen in their rightful spots,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Those guys are all pretty fresh, and we’re going to lean on them at some point, but it’s nice to get our feet underneath us with the starting pitching as the season starts.”

Week 3 results

4-2 record
37 runs scored (6.17 per game)
22 runs allowed (3.67 per game)
.721 pythagorean win percentage

Year to date

11-4 record
91 runs scored (6.07 per game)
56 runs allowed (3.73 per game)
.709 pythagorean win percentage (11-4)

Miscellany

On the climb: Third baseman Max Muncy on Friday night passed Steve Garvey into sixth place on the Dodgers home run list, now with 213 home runs since coming to Los Angeles. That was part of Muncy’s second career three-homer game, which is tied for most in franchise history, and he’s just the second Dodger to end a game of at least three home runs with a walk-off blast, joining Don Demeter in 1959.

On-base machine: Shohei Ohtani broke another record of Ichiro Suzuki, one of his heroes growing up. Friday was Ohtani’s 44th consecutive regular season game reaching base, passing the Hall of Famer for longest MLB streak by a Japanese player. Ohtani’s streak of 46 straight games and counting is the fifth-longest streak in modern Dodgers history, since 1900. “He’s taking walks, he’s getting hits, and he really hasn’t even gotten going yet,” Roberts said Friday.

Blow out the candles, and the rally: With Díaz on the shelf on Saturday, Alex Vesia was called on to record the last out against the Rangers, and his strikeout both closed out the win and earned a save on the left-hander’s 30th birthday. Vesia is the fifth Dodgers reliever to record a save on his birthday, joining Lerrin LaGrow (1979), Tom Niedenfuer (1986, 1987), Kenley Jansen (2017), and Caleb Ferguson (2018).

Transactions

Saturday: Pitcher Grant Holman’s 10-day stay on the 40-man roster ended when the Tigers claimed off waivers. Holman, who was claimed by the Dodgers from the Diamondbacks on April 1, did not pitch in the minors during his time in the organization.

Game results

• Monday: Dodgers 14, Blue Jays 2
• Tuesday: Dodgers 4, Blue Jays 1
• Wednesday: Blue Jays 4, Dodgers 3
• Friday: Dodgers 8, Rangers 7
• Saturday: Dodgers 6, Rangers 3
• Sunday: Rangers 5, Dodgers 2

Previous reviews: Week 1 | Week 2

Up next

The Dodgers run the Jay Payton gauntlet this week, hosting the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium (including Jackie Robinson Day on Wednesday, an ESPN-exclusive telecast) before hitting the road to face the Colorado Rockies. The stay at Coors Field extends into Monday, with the first three games of the wraparound series included in Week 4.

The Atlanta Braves debuted their updated City Connect uniforms over the weekend, showcasing a familiar style that combines several classic design elements from the franchise’s rich history.   

Inspired largely by the 1980s era of Braves baseball, during which time the team’s games were beamed across the country via the wonders of owner Ted Turner’s TBS Superstation, the latest version of the City Connect concept prominently features vintage uniform iconography on a period appropriate powder blue palette.

In other words, what’s old is new again.

Insung Kim is the Creative Director for the Atlanta Braves and he was charged with creating yet another memorable design for a franchise with no shortage of memorable looks. Once again, the club leaned on its storied past to help chart the course for its future ensemble.

As the three-year window to update the club’s City Connect uniforms ticked away, Kim and his creative team focused on a particular time period when the club’s profile was rapidly expanding thanks to its far-reaching television footprint.

“We have this large reach of Braves fans all over the country and all over the world who grew up watching the Braves on TBS,” Kim said of choosing an ‘80s aesthetic. “We wanted to celebrate those fans, and we wanted our City Connect 2.0 to talk about that heyday in Braves Country, when so many fans fell in love with baseball and fell in love with the Braves during that era.”

With those memories in mind, the design team settled on powder blue as the featured color and began to sketch out the rest of the details that would complete the updated attire.

Atlanta’s new City Connect uniform features a light blue pullover jersey with white lettering wrapped in red trim above navy numerals on the front atop white pants with prominent red and blue piping. The player names on the back of the jersey are in navy and sit above white numerals outlined in red. Both the cap and helmet have a light blue crown along with a navy visor accented in red and adorned with the club’s lowercase “A” logo.

“We have such a rich history as a team,” Kim said of choosing the elements that made up the final design. “We’re over 150 years old. So, for me as a designer and a creative, I have this amazing toolkit of logos and designs that I can look back on… I think this is a really cool remix and a modern update of the classic powder blue uniform.”

Choosing just the right shade of blue was a painstaking process for the design team. They reviewed dozens of shades before choosing the primary color for the jersey.

“We were very specific about the shade of powder blue for this new City Connect,” Kim said. “We wanted to make sure that we nailed the color exactly right so that it’s a modernized version of the old powder blue. If you look back at the old powder blue jerseys, it’s actually a lot darker than you imagined. We wanted to make sure that this was a nice bright blue, (so) that when the team wears it on the field, whether it’s day or night, it’s going to look beautiful.”

Not only does that color celebrate a decades long love affair for the Braves on television, but it also taps into a revival of the uniform style taking place across the country on youth fields today.

“There are little details that we put into the jersey that reference the TBS generation, but at the same time, it is an update,” Kim said of the color scheme. “We wanted it to be bright and vivid for this new generation of fans. If you go out and watch youth baseball, you’ll see that light blue is one of the most popular colors for uniforms. So, we thought, how cool is that that we’ve got this new generation of baseball fans and Braves fans who just love bright blue, like powder blue? This is the perfect time to bring that back.”

Pulling from both late-‘70s and early-‘80s design elements worn by the team as Turner’s television empire gained traction was an easy choice for this new uniform combination. While the team struggled to remain competitive in those days, Atlanta’s broadcast represented an access point for generations of baseball fans from coast to coast for the better part of three decades.

That television history was a hallmark of the Braves, and the TBS influence found its way onto the jersey and even the socks for the new City Connect uniform.

“The jersey is a v-neck because that is what the players from that era wore,” Kim said. “We also have an ATL patch on the sleeve, which is a nod to the old TBS logo.”

Player comfort was another factor the design team considered when creating the new uniform.

“We heard feedback from the players,” Kim said. “They really love wearing the v-necks because they’re so comfortable. If you think about the heat out here in Atlanta and the humidity, wearing a v-neck versus a button-down is a little bit more comfortable.”

Braves third baseman Austin Riley was one of the players consulted during the design process. Seeing the final result and then slipping on a pullover jersey was exactly what he hoped for.

“I think they’re awesome,” Riley said. “I love the accents, the ATL on the sleeve. I like the outline in the red. I think they really did a good job on the hats and the helmets. For me, my big thing was that I love no buttons (for the jersey). That was my take. It’s hot here and this is a little bit lighter.”

As the Braves became “America’s Team” on TBS during the ‘80s, superstar outfielder Dale Murphy became a household name while wearing a powder blue road uniform. That color scheme was a favorite garb for many teams at the time, but Murphy’s popularity became almost synonymous with the look while winning consecutive National League MVP Awards in 1982 and 1983.

When it came time to officially announce its latest City Connect design, the team released a hype video that prominently featured Murphy as well as a new take on one of his most iconic photographs. Several current Braves donned the new uniform and took promotional pictures in a brick alleyway, paying homage to Murphy’s “Power Alley” poster released by Nike some 43 years ago.

That poster was a must-have for Braves fans of that era and pictured Murphy standing in between two buildings in full powder blue uniform holding a glowing baseball bat. The effect was primitive and achieved by running a series of cords through Murphy’s uniform and plugging it into a nearby outlet.

“We actually rebuilt the ‘Power Alley’ set down in Florida at our spring training facility,” Kim said. “We had the guys like Ronald Acuña, Austin Riley, Matt Olson, and Michael Harris, who were modeling the jersey for us, in the set (and) holding a bright blue bat or a glowing stick that was reminiscent of the old ‘Power Alley’ poster. We wanted to have that connection of looking at the past but updating it with our guys in our new City Connect uniforms.”

For Braves fans of the 1980s, an opportunity to revisit the “Power Alley” in 2026 was an added bonus. The team brought the alleyway set to Truist Park over the weekend, setting it up just outside the team store and offering a unique photo opportunity to promote the new uniforms which were worn for all three games of the series against the Cleveland Guardians.

Olson was one of countless young fans to grow up watching the Braves on TBS. Coming home to play for the team he grew up watching provides numerous chances to flash back to those formative days. While he may be too young to have experienced rooting for Murphy’s teams of the 1980s, the nostalgia attached to Atlanta’s new City Connect uniforms is unmistakable.

“Right away you think of those Dale Murphy powder blues,” Olson said. “I thought that was cool. I love the color, with a little new flair to it with the red piping and stuff. I think they look great.”

Welcome back to Monday Stat Party, a weekly series showcasing the most curious and nostalgia-inducing statistical developments from the past week of Mets baseball. What unites each entry is the sense of intrigue which they aim to spark, and the unbridled love of the game’s anomalies from which they arise. Without further ado, let the stat party begin…

TUESDAY

The Mets recorded their second walk-off win of the season in their eleventh game. It’s the fastest the Mets have notched two walk-off wins since 1998, when they had three in their first four games.

The Mets played extra innings for the fourth time in just 11 games, marking the most through the first 11 games of any season in franchise history.

Ronny Mauricio became the fifth Met to record a walk-off hit in his first plate appearance of a season and the first since Alberto Castillo in 1998. (source: MLB.com, Elias Sports Bureau)

WEDNESDAY

Luis Robert Jr. reached base 24 times in his first 12 games as a Met. Only 11 Mets have done that to begin their stint with the team, with the first being Willie Mays in 1972 and the most recent before Robert being Eduardo Escobar in 2022. Other notable names on that list include Keith Hernandez, John Olerud, and Rickey Henderson.

THURSDAY

In the weekly update on Nolan McLean’s dazzling emergence, McLean has now posted a 2.23 ERA and 77 K in his first 11 career games. The only other pitchers to match those totals in their first 11 games are Masahiro Tanaka (2.06 ERA, 88 K) and Paul Skenes (1.90 ERA, 89 K).

FRIDAY

The Mets were shut out by the Athletics for the second time in franchise history. The first time came in Oakland on June 14, 2005, when the A’s got a 2-for-4 day from their current manager Mark Kotsay.

SATURDAY

Jeff McNeil’s seventh-inning single was Squirrel’s 447th hit at Citi Field, moving him past David Wright for fifth place on the stadium’s all-time leaderboard. McNeil ended the series at 448, two away from tying Pete Alonso (450) for third place and five away from tying Brandon Nimmo (453) for second place. Daniel Murphy (463) sits atop the field.

SUNDAY

Jeff McNeil made his 432nd start at Citi Field, tying David Wright for the third-most in the ballpark. Pete Alonso (493) and Brandon Nimmo (472) are the top two on the list.

The Mets were shut out for the third time in just 16 games this season. It’s the fastest they’ve reached three shutout losses in a season since 2001.

The Mets have now scored just 65 runs in 16 games. Since 2000, the Mets have only scored that few runs through 16 games on four occasions: 2001, 2003, 2012, and 2021.

The Mets have now scored two or fewer runs through nine innings in 9 of their first 16 games, tying an unfortunate club record matched in 1967, 1971, 1981, and 2001.

Miscellaneous Mets stat of the week:

Either Tom Seaver or Jacob deGrom is the Mets’ leader in strikeouts against 14 of the 15 National League clubs. Jerry Koosman holds the franchise record for most strikeouts against the San Francisco Giants with 181.

Fenway Sports Group has already drawn ire in recent years for, amongst other things on a very non exhaustive list: caring more about profits than winning, selling the most expensive “experience” in baseball rather than a winning team, caring more about profits than the culture of the team, shipping away homegrown leaders to save a few dollars, and caring more about profits than any results at all. That frustration often extends to the network the group owns as part of their… ugh… portfolio: New England Sports Network.

For starters, long-timer Tom Caron often sounds like mouthpiece for the team’s PR department. Then there’s Dave O’Brien, who, while a seemingly lovely guy, just isn’t that interesting to listen to. Most of the same can be said with the color commentary following the passing of Jerry Remy. Maybe we were spoiled with him and Don Orsillo for years, but fielding a team that barely contends and pairing it with a commentary team that’s just up to snuff signifies so much about this organization.

Beyond the on-air talent, the broadcast alone has its own problems. There are connectivity issues, the app is incredibly buggy, and, to boot, it costs an outrageous $30 a month. So there was even more understandable frustration when, during yesterday’s game, fans were treated to this view for much of the first inning.

Willson Contreras (3)
2-Run Home Run

Opponent: St. Louis Cardinals
Pitcher: Andre Pallante
Date: 4/12/26 pic.twitter.com/LeXygmS1oP

— Red Sox Home Runs (@RedSox_HR) April 12, 2026

That view would be awesome if I was a bird on the field getting a look at the game for free, or if the Red Sox added me as the last member of their infield platoon. But this isn’t what you want to see on your TV, and that wasn’t the end of the issues.

Later, interruptions cut into a Ceddanne Rafaela at-bat. The camera again gave out directly before Brayan Bello let up another home run to Jordan Walker, leaving us to just look at Bello’s incredulous shoulder toss of agony. The reaction was two-fold in Sox Nation.

Eventually, NESN gave up and used the St. Louis feed, admitting their inferiority to another network. But don’t worry… they were still advertising NESN360 on the top right of the screen despite not even being able to use their own feed.

Dave O’Brien quickly quipped “it won’t affect your life.” This is a microcosm of the coping mechanism the team has been feeding the fanbase for years while Mookie Betts, Xander Boegarts, Rafael Devers, and others have departed because $ of $ internal $ issues $. This is a microcosm of how the team operates: we’re not going to invest where needed, and it’s your fault if you get upset that we’re not meeting standards.

And listen: I operate a camera for a living and it was a pivot from the previous work I was doing. As a result, I’m more sympathetic than most for the technical mishaps. There are all kinds of understandable reasons why they might have had issues yesterday: St. Louis isn’t NESN’s home; maybe something was carried over from FOX’s broadcast on Saturday night; they might have new operators. But the network is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, taken from the wallets of fans who have already been frustrated enough when they turn on the game and see an inability to drive in runs, allergies to holding leads for more than an inning, and managerial curiosities (to put it diplomatically). NESN was once a beacon in regional sports, and now we have to deal with this:

So, after that humorous note, I once again raise the question: why exactly are we all giving more money to this company that’s showed time and time again that it doesn’t care about the product it gives back to the fans? And why are we, as a fanbase, fine with a guy who posts celebratory cigar pictures after doing what he should be doing every season: spending money on his team?

Over and over again, FSG has told us exactly who they are, with the roster, with the network, with the price tag. That the Sox won the game in a rout yesterday does not forgive the fact that the broadcast laid an egg. Until we tell them with our wallet that it’s not acceptable, expect more of the same.