Category: Sports News

1901
In the dead ball era, homers were sparse. In fact, the White Sox went their first four official American League games without one. But on this day, the offense exploded by banging out 16 hits to bury Detroit, 19-9. The onslaught marked the first time in the AL that the White Sox hit two home runs in one game. Both Billy Hoy and Herm McFarland hit their first round-trippers of the season; Hoy’s was a three-run shot and McFarland’s in the second inning a grand slam — the first in White Sox and American League history.

On the Tigers side, things were ugly. Detroit made 10 errors in the game; starting pitcher Joe Yeager allowed 12 runs, but just five were earned over his three innings.

1924
In a game at Cleveland, White Sox outfielder Bill Barrett banged out four hits and stole home twice in a 13-7 win. Barrett went 4-for-5 with three runs and two RBIs for the afternoon. His steals of home came in the first and ninth innings.

1936
The White Sox claimed Dixie Walker off waivers from the Yankees. Alas, this was a big one who eventually got away, as the Sox traded Walker to the Tigers after only one season. In 1937 with the Sox, Walker drove in 95 runs while hitting .302. Walker later achieved stardom in Brooklyn, winning a batting title and playing in four All-Star games. 

1951
Minnie Miñoso (acquired on April 30) made his White Sox debut. The Cuban Comet became the first Black player in team history. In his first at-bat, he hit a home run off of Vic Raschi into the center field bullpen at Comiskey Park. The drive went an estimated 425 feet and drove in a pair of runs. Later in the same game, won by the Yankees, 8-3, Mickey Mantle hit the first of his 536 career home runs. 

1954
White Sox pitcher Virgil Trucks tossed a one-hitter in beating the Red Sox, 3-0. The only hit he allowed came in the sixth inning, a single by future White Sox player Billy Goodman. Trucks struck out eight Boston batters in the game.

This was the first of his pair of one-hitters in 1954; he’d end the year at 19-12 with a 2.79 ERA, having made the All-Star team and saving the win for the American League.  

1959
Early Wynn had one of the greatest days ever by a pitcher, when he did it all in a 1-0 White Sox win over Boston. Wynn tossed a one-hit complete game, striking out 14. In addition, he slammed a home run in the last of the eighth inning to account for the game’s only run. Wynn’s drive bounced off the glove of Boston’s Bill Renna into the first row of seats at Comiskey Park.

The only hit Wynn allowed came to Pete Runnels in the first inning, a single to center field at Comiskey Park. Ironically, seconds before the hit Wynn moved Luis Aparicio over a few steps to his right, and he wasn’t able to reach Runnels’ grounder.Wynn’s control wasn’t the best, as he walked seven batters, but he was always able to get out of trouble.

Also on this day, the White Sox traded for Cincinnati Reds outfielder Del Ennis. Ennis, a three-time All-Star, was simply horrible for the White Sox, compiling -0.8 WAR over 26 games and getting released on June 20. At 34, his major league career was over.

1960
Al Smith connected on a Jim Bunning pitch and set off owner Bill Veeck’s new exploding scoreboard for the first time. The blast came in the third inning, with Jim Landis on base. The White Sox would win the game, 6-3, and then sweep the Tigers by taking the nightcap, 5-2.

The scoreboard was 130 feet wide and cost $300,000. There was a firing platform in back that went into action when a White Sox player hit a home run. There were noises of varying tones and intensities, including the sounds of horses running, thunder and the collision of locomotives. The eight small ladders atop the scoreboard flashed into electrical patterns. Strobe lights were atop the two highest ladders. Bombs and fireworks also were exploded from the firing platform.

1973
Dick Allen hit a lot of tape-measure home runs in his time with the White Sox, but this may have been his longest.

On a cool, damp night at Comiskey Park, Allen deposited a pitch from Baltimore’s Mike Cuellar onto the roof in left-center field. The pitch was unusual as it approached home plate, and many speculated that what Allen hit was a “Cuban Forkball” (i.e. spitball) that failed to break downwards. Allenhit one more home run on the night, in a 6-5 win.  

For many years afterwards the Sox hung a sign on the roof in left center field indicating where his ball passed over.

1979
Calling her the “most outstanding performer to play for the White Sox” in 1978, owner Bill Veeck declared it Nancy Faust Day. Faust was to be given “lots of presents” in an effort also to commemorate her 10th year with the White Sox. True to Veeck, however, fans would receive a direct benefit from the Night, as anyone bringing in a musical instrument (“even a comb with tissue in it”) would get half-off of their game ticket price.

As for the game, a chilly, 42° night drove down the size of the orchestra, as just 16,470 showed up for a lackluster, 5-2 loss to Detroit.

1987
Leading 1-0 in the sixth inning at Memorial Stadium, the White Sox blew the game open with three homers against the Orioles: Greg Walker went out deep to center to start the barrage, as Iván Calderón followed suit after a Carlton Fisk walk, and Tim Hulett finished off the scoring with a solo shot to left field. The White Sox would win the game, 5-1, with nine hits — eight coming from the trio of Walker, Calderón and Hulett.

1991
The White Sox lost what remains the eighth-longest game in their history, 10-9, to the Brewers in Milwaukee. The Sox blew leads of 5-0 and 9-6 in this one. The game went 18 2⁄3 innings and ran 6:05.

The game went so long that WGN-TV sports director Dan Roan, who was covering the game, had to do his evening sportscast from a parking lot at a bar just inside the state line on Route 41. He couldn’t get back to the studio in northern Chicago in time!

2006
In a wild, 8-6 win at Cleveland, Scott Podsednik again stole four bases in a game, tying a team record. However, in doing so for the third time in his White Sox career, Podsednik established himself as the only player to steal four bases in a game more than one time (Scotty Pods did so in three games, 30% of the 10 times it’s been achieved in franchise annals). Podsednik was on base five times (four singles, one walk) in six trips to the plate and scored three runs.

Podsenik stole third base as the lead runner on a double-steal with Tadahito Iguchi in the first inning and came home on Paul Konerko’s three-run blast; he was caught stealing in the second inning but made it to third base on an error at first base; in the sixth he stole second base, was picked off but a throwing error by pitcher Brian Slocum sent him instead to third; and stole second and third base in the ninth.

The win improved the first-place White Sox to 18-7 on the season.

Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Remember to send in your questions for our weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

qmerkel asks: What do you think the Yankees will do with Luis Gil? Keep trying to develop him as a starter, move him to the bullpen, or trade him?

For now they’ll likely keep Gil stretched out as a starter down in Triple-A, since he’s the primary depth for the rotation should an injury occur to any of the current guys. Once Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón are back and fully built up to their regular workload, then perhaps the organization could consider utilizing Gil as a reliever, but with his current velocity issues that might not be a feasible transition to make. The only thing I’d rule out in the immediate is a trade, as the team would be selling on Gil for pennies on the dollar — perhaps he can rebound and remain useful to the team, or at the very least find enough of his old form to be of value in a trade, but at the moment it doesn’t seem worth it to give up on him for the equivalent of a lottery ticket or two.

Jmack175 asks:Still early to think about the deadline, but outside of 3B/SS, the most obvious upgrades are in the bullpen — if we stay atop the East, do you think Cash will go all in and get some lock down late inning guys, and if so, who might be realistic?

I think the answer to the bullpen is two-fold: Cashman will inevitably perform some remodeling and grab a handful of relievers to shake things up, but he also won’t go for the flashiest, high-priced closers. David Bednar was a solid grab last year, but the Yankees managed to nab him at an affordable price that set him well apart from the other closers that changed teams over the deadline. Now that his performance has waned (or more accurately, just become too stressful to trust on a day-to-day basis), they may look for another closer to pass the baton to, but an easier get would be a suitable set-up level reliever that could be trusted to get elevated into the closer’s role if need be. Then the rest of the work can focus on retooling the bottom of the ‘pen, finding better answers than Camilo Doval or Jake Bird to bring in for the middle of games that can still swing in their favor. Admittedly, this area is the one they could most likely support from within the organization with their extended rotation depth, but the Yankees are always hunting for the next hidden gem of an arm and I’d be shocked if they didn’t try to pluck one out from under another team again this year.

SHSBN26 asks:With Stanton making his usual return to the IL, why does the Martian (and more perplexing Schuemann) get the call before Spencer Jones?

Max Schuemann is more or less just a stand-in while they wait for Anthony Volpe’s rehab to conclude, as they don’t want to call up a reliever just to send them back down and potentially need them back on the roster a couple of days later only to be blocked by the minimum amount of days they’d need to stay in the minors before their next call up. I’d be shocked if he’s around for much longer, and that shock would have more to do with whatever they’d decide to do with Volpe rather than reinsert him to the 26-man roster.

Jasson Domínguez, on the other hand, got the promotion ahead of Spencer Jones for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, he has already been a major leaguer, giving him familiarity with the team that would help in filling a short-term need while not having to worry about a rookie being unprepared for the biggest stage. On top of that, Domínguez has looked much more competent against lefties than he did last season which bodes well should he be filling in Stanton’s spot at DH. Domínguez’s defense may still be suspect, but if they don’t need to play him in the field then his bat can be a boon for this lineup. His recent hit-by-pitch throws this all into a bit of doubt, as Domínguez himself may need to follow Stanton onto the IL if it’s serious, but a fluke injury is no cause for concern regarding whether he should’ve been the one taking the at-bat in the first place.

It was inevitable that Brandon Woodruff would land on the injured list after he had to leave Thursday’s start in the second inning with diminished velocity. His fastball was sitting at just 85 mph after it had been averaging 92.5 mph all season. Manager Pat Murphy was non-committal of an IL placement on Thursday after the game, but the writing was on the wall.

On Friday, the Brewers officially placed Woodruff on the 15-day IL with right shoulder inflammation. Reliever Easton McGee was recalled from Triple-A Nashville to take his roster spot.

The Brewers rotation is already missing Quinn Priester as he is still rehabbing from his wrist injury that took him out of the entire spring. Now, they’ll be missing Woodruff for the foreseeable future.

While Woodruff has not fully gotten back to the velocity he had prior to his 2023 shoulder injury, he was getting up to 96 mph at times and was still effective, pitching to a 3.60 ERA across 30 IP in his six starts this year. He had struck out 25 and walked just seven.

Woodruff told the media on Friday that there was nothing structurally wrong, he just needs to knock out the inflammation, and that he expects it to be close to a minimum stint on the IL.

McGee has been up and down a couple of times already this season and he’ll help provide another bullpen arm for the Brewers. After Woodruff’s short start, the bullpen had to get worked a little more to cover the rest of the game. Shane Drohan had four heroic innings in relief, but that also means Drohan won’t be available for a couple of days.

Woodruff’s next turn in the rotation is due up on Tuesday and it’s seemingly anyone’s guess as to who will get it. Drohan is a possibility since he covered the rest of that game on Thursday and is stretched out. There’s also Coleman Crow and Robert Gasser who both pitched in a doubleheader for Triple-A Nashville Thursday night and would be on regular rest. Then there’s Logan Henderson, who is currently slated to start on Sunday for Nashville and has a 1.02 ERA this season.

The Brewers do have the starting pitching depth to withstand the loss of Woodruff for the time being, but it’s still a big emotional loss for this team to not have their leader in the rotation. We saw how his return to the field impacted the team last year, with a 30-4 run after he came back. He’s highly respected and beloved in that clubhouse and it’s a tough blow to not have him out there every fifth day.

Look, the Giants didn’t have the kind of start we’d hoped for and the numbers from the first month of the season don’t tell us anything different from what we saw/psychically absorbed. The Giants were not a good baseball team, which doesn’t necessarily mean that they will be a bad baseball team going forward. Nobody wants to root for a bad team anyway. But it’s hard not to think about that label after all that unpleasantness.

Hitting

Of course, the season began with the New York Yankees John Wicking the Giants in Oracle Park for three games. Every facet of the Giants’ game received multiple headshots. While the Giants are 1 of 16 teams in MLB history to be shutout in the first 2 games of the season (only the 2016 Padres have been shutout in the first 3 games of a season), their place on the list stands out because they had the fewest hits (4) and total bases (5) of the bunch.

I tracked their 3-7 and 8-12 starts and compared to team history, finding mostly unfavorable comparisons with a couple of positive ones just to sustain a residue of hope. But this 13-18 start is the 12th occurrence in franchise history. Only in 3 of the 11 previous occurrences did a Giants team recover from a 13-18 start to have a winning record: 1920 (86-68), 1939 (77-74), and 2004 (91-71). It’s hard to compare pre-1960s baseball to what most of us understand about the sport today and it’s very difficult to compare Giants teams of the post-Barry Bonds era to teams that had Barry Bonds on them. But 13-18 was also the situation the 100-loss 1985 team found itself in and after a brief reprieve from the comp when the Giants were at 8-12, it’s sad to see them lined up once again.

As NBC Sports Bay Area highlighted last night, the Giants are last in runs per game (3.34), home runs (19), walk rate (5.6%), on base percentage (.289), slugging (.365), and OPS (.654). The offense has also been shutout a league-leading six times. If you’re a savvy reader, then you see the obvious stat that’s missing.

The one that caused me to gnash my teeth the other day in this post about the Giants simply giving up on working counts in order to make more contact. That team scored 91 runs through its first 31 games and slashed .217/.275/.309, so, it could be much, much worse.

That’s right. Batting average.

The Giants hit .247 in their first 31 games and, guess what, that’s 11th in MLB. So, take that, NBC Sports Bay Area! And just to really thumb our noses at those bozos (kidding!), that .247 average is the result of 259 hits, which are THE MOST hits in the first month of the season IN THE ORACLE PARK ERA! And it’s #1 by a lot. #2 on the list is the 2013 squad which had 240 hits to generate a line of .261/.318/.374.

You know, when I compare this result to the rest of the list, I think the esteemed Grant Brisbee had it right in his post yesterday: the Giants are simply not getting the hits when the count is in their favor. That’s a lot of hits with very few runs to show for it. Speaking of runs… the Giants’ league-worst 104 runs scored is 15th out of 26 seasons in the Oracle park era. The 2021 squad scored 106 in the first month of that season. The 2010 and 2012 teams scored 101 and 90, respectively, in their opening months.

A less obvious stat missing? Stolen bases. The Giants have 8. That is also last in MLB. According to FanGraphs, the team’s -3.7 Baserunning runs makes them the worst overall baserunning team in the sport through the first month of the season. After Drew Gilbert got held up yesterday, Heliot Ramos might agree.

The Giants were the third-worst team in the sport against right handed pitching (82 wRC+) behind just the Mets (80) and Red Sox (79). That’s remarkable because all three basically feature 5 prominent left-handed hitters each.

Individual highlights & lowlights

Rafael Devers: .207/.248/.289, 2 home runs, 5.4 BB%, 31 K%. Definitely the worst start to a season he’s ever had, but was it the worst month he’s ever had in his career? According to Stathead… no! That .537 OPS just barely edges out July 2020 (.536) and is comfortably ahead of August 2022 (.515) and September 2024 (.496). The only other time he’s had 40 strikeouts in a month, though? Ahem. Last April, when he struck out 40 times (27.2%) but walked 24 times (16.3%). He also had 5 home runs and 10 doubles (plus 19 RBI). A .787 OPS. Is Devers toast, though? April was not encouraging.

Willy Adames: .197/.240/.352, a .593 OPS, which is how his 2025 season started (.208/.292/.300 — .592 OPS). He also struck out 40 times, though, and that’s only the second time he’s hit that number in a month. The first time was in September 2022, but like Devers’ other 40-K example, Adames hit .263/.319/.451 with 5 homers and 21 RBI. He also walked 11 times compared to just 6 this past month.

Luis Arraez & Jung Hoo Lee: They lead the team in hits (36 & 33, respectively) and they’re having surprisingly great seasons so far. Arraez iws basically hitting as advertised, but it’s his defense that’s elevated him from a nice player to a borderline great one. Jung Hoo Lee has hit the ground running to the point that I think he’s one of the most important Giants going forward.

Patrick Bailey: He hit .288/.321/.493 (.814 OPS) in 78 plate appearances last September, but remove that month and he’s hitting .198/.259/.271 over his last 455 plate appearances.

Pitching

I don’t think the Giants expected to have a less valuable pitching staff than the Colorado Rockies, but that’s the situation right now (1.9 fWAR to Colorado’s 2.3). They have 3 of the 20 worst starters in the sport right now, including the 3rd and 4th worst:

1. Matthew Liberatore (STL): -0.4 fWAR in 30.1 IP
   2. Jameson Taillon (CHC): -0.2 fWAR in 34.2 IP
   3. Adrian Houser (SF): -0.2 fWAR in 30.1 IP
   4. Tyler Mahle (SF): -0.2 fWAR In 30.2 IP
   20. Robbie Ray (SF): +0.3 fWAR in 33.1 IP

Meanwhile, only Ryan Borucki (-0.2 fWAR), Matt Gage (-0.1) and Jose Butto (-0.2) have been drags on the relief corps. Erik Miller (+0.3 fWAR, 1.72 FIP) and Keaton Winn (+0.3 fWAR, 2.26 FIP) are the standouts, but neither cracks the top 30 in the sport — yet. Ryan Walker’s performance yesterday dropped him down to a replacement-level player still in positive value. Speaking of…

Individual highlights & lowlights

Ryan Walker: He threw 9 consecutive sinkers to Bryson Stott in the Game 1 loss of yesterday’s doubleheader and wound up throwing 20 sinkers overall out of 21 pitches in the appearance. 68.3% of Walker’s pitches this season have been sinkers and all of that work has amounted to +1 Run Value, according to Statcast. Run Value is derived from outcomes so it’s a situational stat unlike, say, velocity and spin. In those cases, although his sinker spin rate is the same, its velocity is down a half mile per hour compared to last season and his slider has lost about 100 rpm.

Logan Webb: He’s 4th in innings pitched with 44 which is good to see, but his 3.45 FIP is a significant incrase over the last several years. From 2021-2025 it was 2.90. It’s 3.45 in 7 starts. That’s not a terrible figure, but when combined with the precipitous drop in strikeouts (7.77 K/9) — remember, last year was a standout strikeout year for him with a 9.74 K/9 and an NL-leading 224 punchouts — and big leap in walks allowed (3.07 BB/9, up from 2.0 last year and 2.2 the year prior) it’s not cause for alarm, but certainly some concern and worth monitoring.

Landen Roupp: He might be having the same age-27 breakout as Casey Schmitt. His K/9 of 9.42 is up from 8.61 last season. Walks are holding steady (3.57 vs. 3.8 last year), and he’s allowed just 1 home run in 6 starts (35.1 IP). Oh, and his groundball rate is up nearly 10%. He is a top-25 pitcher right now and has the same value (+0.9 fWAR) as big ticket free agent Framber Valdez, the rudely dismissed Kevin Gausman, and the veteran Jacob deGrom. Great company!

Fielding

Perfectly balanced with 0 Outs Above Average as a team. On the other hand, Luis Arraez’s +6 Outs Above Average is tied with Bryson Stott for 4th place in fielding, trailing only Pete Crow-Armstrong (+8 in CF), Bobby Witt Jr. (+8 as a SS), and Nico Hoerner at 2B (+7). That’s… astonishing? Yeah, that’s the right word for it.

The rest of the Giants aren’t doing so hot. Matt Chapman is just +1 at third base and that’s either contributing to or caused by Willy Adames’s horrendous -4 Outs Above Average. He’s the 14th-worst outfielder in the entire sport and the second-worst shortstop behind only CJ Abrams (-5 OAA).

According to FanGraphs, they’re middle of the pack overall (-0.8 Defensive Runs Above Average — 16th in MLB), and even the catching position isn’t all that great when compared to teh field. Patrick Bailey and Daniel Susac and Eric Haase are a +3.6 Def, good enough for just 10th in MLB. For reference: the Mariners lead with +6.8.

Still, catcher, second base, and third base (+2.3) have been above average. It’s first base (-3.6), shortstop (-1.4), left field (-2.0), center (-1.1), and right (-2.3) where the team is in the bottom third of the league. That’s, uh, a lot of mediocre-to-bad defense.

So, it was a bad month. The question is, will it be the month that defines the team?

Happy May, Dodger fans! The Dodgers begin the most beautiful of months in first place, but just a half game ahead of the San Diego Padres. They also begin it in St. Louis at the start of a six-game road trip that includes a series in Houston.

At 18-13, St Louis is third in the NL Central, behind both the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs. They are coming off a four-game sweep of the Pirates in Pittsburgh after having been swept by Seattle at home.

Friday’s game will feature the pitching matchup of Matthew Liberatore and Emmet Sheehan. Liberatore is 0-1 with a 6.28 ERA in the six games in which he’s appeared. He is coming off his worst outing of the season, in which he lasted only 3.1 innings allowing five earned runs.

Sheehan is coming off one of his best appearances of the year, an outing against the Cubs in which he went 6.1 innings with just one earned run, striking out 10 while only allowing one walk.

Facing Liberatore could possibly help Freddie Freeman break out of his slump. Lifetime Freeman is batting .800 against Liberatore with a 1.633 OPS. Shohei Ohtani also has a homer against him.

One thing to watch for is the Cardinals bullpen usage. Seven of their bullpen arms have been used heavily in the last three games, with six having thrown 30 or more pitches in the last three games, and five having thrown 15 or more yesterday. The bullpen staff as a whole has a 5.15 ERA, fifth worse in all of baseball, and they own the fourth-worst K/BB rate.

Cardinals baseball this season has been a bit of a roller coaster ride. They have 10 comeback wins, three of which were walk-offs. They are prone to having big leads and losing it because of the aforementioned bullpen, or they are clawing their way back into games. The Red Birds are 6-2 in one run games, and 5-0 in extra innings.

The team is hoping their first day off after 13 straight games will help their struggling offense. They limped through the end of the series against the Miami Marlins, scoring a measly three runs in the last two games. Facing a beleaguered bullpen could be just what the doctor ordered for the offense to be their super powered selves again.

FRIDAY GAME INFO

• Teams: Dodgers at Cardinals
• Ballpark: Busch Stadium
• Time: 5:15 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

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The Toronto Blue Jays are looking for a bounce-back offensively tonight, and with Simeon Woods Richardson on the mound for the Minnesota Twins, they should be able to put up some crooked numbers on the scoreboard.

Find out more in my Blue Jays vs. Twins predictions and MLB picks for Friday, May 1.

Blue Jays vs Twins predictions

Blue Jays vs Twins best bet: Simeon Woods Richardson Over 2.5 earned runs (-120)

Simeon Woods Richardson is 0-4 with a 6.30 ERA this season, and he's currently allowing a .902 opponent OPS.

The Minnesota Twins right-hander has also been roughed up by this Toronto Blue Jays lineup, which owns a 1.237 OPS against Woods-Richardson.

In three career starts against Toronto, including one from earlier this year, the Twins starter owns an 11.25 career ERA, allowing five runs in each start.

Having surrendered 3+ runs in four straight outings, expect SWR to have a hard time against a Jays offense that is starting to heat up and get healthy.

COVERS INTEL: The Blue Jays have plated 15 runs in just three starts against Simeon Woods-Richardson.

Blue Jays vs Twins same-game parlay (SGP)

I’ll continue to fade Woods Richardson by taking Under 14.5 outs tonight. He’s never made it out of the fifth inning against the Blue Jays, averaging just 12 outs in those three outings. 

Kazuma Okamoto should also take advantage of this matchup against SWR, who leans heavily on his four-seam fastball — a pitch Okamoto owns a .340 batting average against.

Blue Jays vs Twins SGP

• Simeon Woods Richardson Over 2.5 earned runs
• Simeon Woods Richardson Under 14.5 recorded outs
• Kazuma Okamoto Over 0.5 hits 

Blue Jays vs Twins home run pick: Kazuka Okamoto (+450)

Woods-Richardson throws a heavy dose of the four-seam fastball, which Okamoto has handled well this season.

Along with boasting a .340 BA against the pitch, the Japanese third baseman has posted a .638 slugging rate, with four of his five home runs coming off the four-seamer.

Blue Jays vs Twins odds

• Moneyline: Blue Jays -110 | Twins -110
• Run line: Blue Jays -1.5 (+155) | Twins +1.5 (-180)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (-120) | Under 8.5 (+100)

Blue Jays vs Twins trend

Toronto has covered the run line in seven of its last 11 games (+4.25 Units / 37% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Blue Jays vs. Twins.

How to watch Blue Jays vs Twins and game info

Blue Jays vs Twins latest injuries

Blue Jays vs Twins weather

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The Cincinnati Reds are upriver in Pittsburgh on Friday to begin a weekend series against the Pirates. A Reds/Pirates series – starting on the first of May – and yet somehow, it feels like must-watch television.

That’s a bummer for a lot of you, since tonight’s game is going to be broadcast quite poorly on Apple TV. For those who do find a way to track it down and experience it, though, this game is going to have more on the line in the National League Central than it has in quite some time.

Cincinnati will luckly dodge Paul Skenes in this series, as he pitched just yesterday in the team’s 10-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in that series finale. That dropped the Bucs to 16-16 on the season, but they are still a team that very much looks to be eschewing their decade-long reputation as perennial bottom feeders after several of their key players have begun to emerge.

Oneil Cruz is knocking the crud out of the ball, finally. Ryan O’Hearn has hit the ground running as a rare legitimate free agent signee. Brandon Lowe has made Pittsburgh’s decision to trade for him this offseason look incredibly prescient, and we haven’t even mentioned that Konnor Griffin has been promoted (and given a massive extension) to help officially move the franchise forward to the next phase of their arduous rebuild.

As a team, Pittsburgh boasts a .317 wOBA, good for a middle-of-the-pack 17th overall. That’s ahead of Cincinnati’s .314 by a hair, even though xwOBA thinks the Reds should have a much better offense than the Pirates so far. Pittsburgh’s 3.82 ERA (8th) and 3.73 xERA (t-5th) show it’s their pitching staff on which they’ve truly been leaning so far, though again, the Reds will miss Skenes this series.

Righty Mitch Keller gets the starting nod tonight in the series opener opposite Reds righty Brady Singer. First pitch (on Apple TV, sadly) is slated for 6:45 PM ET.

Here’s how the Reds will line up for the opener: