Category: Sports News

There’s a pretty good chance of rain this evening in Chicago (weather forecast link below). Here’s the local radar to keep handy.

Tuesday notes…

• TWO-OUT RUNS: The Cubs scored five of their seven runs last night with two outs, raising their season total to 14 such runs, which is 56 percent of all 25 runs they have tallied. Last season, they scored 36 percent with two down, 286 of 793. Those 286 were an average of 1.77 per game. So far this year, they are averaging 3.50. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• THAT OTHER LEAGUE: A win tonight will be the Cubs’ 300th against American League teams since interleague play began in 1997. They have lost 277, for a winning percentage of .519. Only the Dodgers have fared better in interleague play among National League teams, at .548 (326-269). The Braves (311-292) and Brewers (288-270) are tied for third, at .516. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• CALLING ALL ANGELS: The Cubs are 17-10 all-time (since 2004) vs. the Angels, including 9-5 at Wrigley Field. They swept the Angels in Anaheim last season and took two of three games from them at Wrigley Field in July 2024.
• EARLY STATS: The Cubs are third in MLB with six steals so far in 2026. No Cub has been caught stealing yet. They rank tied for sixth in runs with 24 (three teams with 24 or more have played one more game than the Cubs have). And, they rank fifth in walks with 21 (three of the four teams ahead of them have played one more game than the Cubs have).

Cubs lineup:

#Cubs lineup vs #Angels this evening pic.twitter.com/0XChBnd2Uq

— Al Yellon (@bleedcubbieblue) March 31, 2026

Angels lineup:

Angels lineup. No Moncada. pic.twitter.com/GoCrJ0fQM6

— BTH (@BeyondTheHalo) March 31, 2026

Jameson Taillon, RHP vs. José Soriano, RHP

Jameson Taillon had a horrid spring: 17.55 ERA, 10 (!) home runs allowed in 13.1 innings, also nine walks. Awful.

He also had one very good outing for Canada in the WBC during that time. So, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In any case, I don’t expect those spring results to carry over. His last start against the Angels was Aug. 24, 2025 in Anaheim — five innings, three hits, one run (a solo homer by Taylor Ward, who isn’t on the Angels anymore), no walks.

I’m expecting something more like that.

José Soriano was the Angels Opening Day starter. I daresay he wouldn’t have had that role for most other teams. He’s good, no question, but that good?

Soriano did throw six shutout innings vs. the Astros on Opening Day, so there’s that.

His last start against the Cubs was July 7, 2024 at Wrigley Field. He allowed three runs in five innings. No current Cub has more than three at-bats against him.

Soriano’s pitch selection chart below is from his one start this year. Taillon’s is from 2025.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit the Angels site Crashing The Pearly Gates. If you do go there to interact with Angels fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Yesterday the Mariners’ Double-A affiliate, the Arkansas Travelers, announced their 2026 roster, highlighted by the inclusion of the Mariners’ two top pitching prospects, Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan. That unfortunately doesn’t leave a lot of frontline starter talent for High-A Everett, but the AquaSox will still boast five of Seattle’s Pipeline Top 30 prospects, and three of the top ten.

OF Jonny Farmelo (#6) returns to Everett after battling an ACL tear in 2024 and a related stress reaction in his ribs in 2025, both of which curtailed his plate appearances in his first two professional seasons. Farmelo got a long look with the big-league club this spring, making up for some of those lost plate appearances, and showcased his top-of-the-scale speed at times, motoring around the bases and showing why he has the nickname “Jonny Ferrari.” Farmelo has a solid sense of the zone, running double-digit walk rates anywhere he’s played, and immense raw power, but needs to work on his bat to ball skills.

Another Mariners prospect who has dealt with health issues in his young career is SS Felnin Celesten (#7), who also returns to Everett. Like Farmelo, his primary goal will be staying on the field consistently, and to continue refining his approach in the box: the switch-hitter’s strikeout rate spiked to over a third in his brief time at Everett last year, and the raw power he flashed at times in the California League got swallowed up in the heavy upper-Northwest air. Celesten has made improvements in his fielding and now looks like someone who could stick at short full-time; he’s not immune to making a blunder at the six, but this spring he was reliably making the routine plays and black diamond-level ones.

MLB Pipeline’s #8 prospect for the Mariners will also join Everett, this one a newcomer in catcher Luke Stevenson. Stevenson is young for a college player, just 21, but has experience commanding a staff and could be a quick mover, especially if the team wants to reunite him with Anderson and Sloan in Double-A. The problem is there are still lingering questions over what kind of player Stevenson will be, as the soft-spoken, painfully earnest catcher is weirdly a divisive prospect among scouts. Some scouts see a whiff-prone average defensive catcher who sells out for power, and others see a potential power/defense threat at a premium position reminiscent of a young Cal Raleigh (it’s me I’m others). Similar to Raleigh, Stevenson tore up the Cal League, although at a lower level now; this year he’ll have a chance to try to match Raleigh’s otherworldly numbers at High-A, and shift the national conversation around his prospect potential, much like Cal did in 2019.

Other Pipeline Top-30 prospects at Everett include OF Carlos Jimenez (#21) and RHP Lucas Kelly (#29). Jimenez makes his High-A debut after being with Modesto the past two years. Kelly, a sidearm reliever drafted in 2025, is well-known to AquaSox fans, punching out a hitter for the final out of Everett’s championship-winning Game 4 against the Eugene Emeralds. The ASU product only pitched in a half-dozen games in Everett, so he returns to the AquaSox, but could be a quick mover so long as he keeps pounding the zone.

Here’s the complete roster:

Post-hype prospect to watch: RHP Walter Ford

It sucks to put one of the Mariners’ own post-hype prospects here rather than a reclamation project from another org, but sadly, Ford’s career hasn’t taken off yet after he was drafted with some fanfare in the competitive balance rounds in 2022. The stuff just hasn’t really taken off, and while he commands the zone well, the upside is starting to look much lower than it did. But hey, maybe now that he’s the only prospect in the system named Ford he’ll get some Highlander, there-can-be-only-one power back.

Will be ranked on the Top 30 before the end of the year: Christian Little

He didn’t have very long at Everett last season, but we at the site are buyers of the former pre-draft hype prospect. Little has the pedigree, the size, and the stuff, and this year will be huge for his development. Read John’s prospect writeup on him and get yourself out to Everett to see him and judge for yourself.

Sleeper prospect: RHP Casey Hintz

This is cheating because Hintz has been talked up by everyone from Justin Toole to Justin Hollander this spring, but witness him anyway: the former Arizona sidearmer is exactly the kind of prospect who moves quickly through this system. If he’s throwing strikes, expect to see him in Arkansas soon.

The Phillies lost their third straight game on Monday night, and each loss has seemed to get progressively uglier. They’ll try to turn that around on Tuesday behind rookie starter Andrew Painter making his major league debut.

Andrew Painter makes his Major League debut tonight at Citizens Bank Park!#RingTheBellpic.twitter.com/JBT3LlyW3q

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) March 31, 2026

The Nationals will counter with a young pitcher of their own in second year lefty P.J. Poulin.

more

→ https://t.co/iUBDqlACVspic.twitter.com/Qa2eiCpXbi

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) March 31, 2026

Game time is 6:40 PM and will be televised locally on NBCSP+.

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With momentum from Saturday’s win against the Detroit Tigers, the San Diego Padres felt poised to take the series opener against the division rival San Francisco Giants.

Sadly, it was not to be.

After getting shutout for eight full innings by a combination of starter Landen Roupp (6.0 IP), Matt Gage (1.0 IP) and Keaton Winn (1.0 IP), the Friars attempted a late rally off Ryan Walker.

Jake Cronenworth led off the inning with a walk and got to second on a Manny Machado groundout. With two outs, Jackson Merrill launched a payoff slider into left field for the Padres’ first runs of the game.

Now, with the tying run at the plate, Xander Bogaerts stepped into the box and promptly grounded out, ending what might have been.

Taking the mound

Logan Webb (SF) v. Germán Márquez (SD)

San Diego struggled to score in the few opportunities it had. The Padres will need to flip that script today against ace Logan Webb.

Webb looked mostly solid in his Opening Day start against the New York Yankees, but he was ambushed for five runs in the second inning. After that he mostly settled in.

If the Padres can hammer his mistakes like the Yanks did, they’ll be able to push him out of the game quickly. If not, they’ll have an even harder time than they did last night against Roupp.

For Márquez it marks a debut in the Brown and Gold. After Buehler had a solid (though uninspiring) debut (4.0 IP, 3 ER), the former Colorado Rockies ace will seek to top his back-end counterpart.

Batter up!

Jake Cronenworth looked mostly solid in his first time batting leadoff on Saturday. He did not look that way last night.

With that being said, it’s a small sample size of only two games. So he could still leadoff today. My guess, though, is that the lineup looks something more like this:

1. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
2. Jake Cronenworth, 2B
3. Jackson Merrill, CF
4. Manny Machado, 3B
5. Xander Bogaerts, SS
6. Ramón Laureano, LF
7. Miguel Andujar, DH
8. Gavin Sheets, 1B
9. Freddy Fermin, C

It’s still early, so manager Craig Stammen could experiment more than that, but it seems likely Merrill moves up to the third spot in the order.

Backup catcher Luis Campusano struggled at the plate, so Fermin will probably start.

It’s also probable that Andujar gets the DH start after Nick Castellanos failed to reach base last night. Andujar got a pinch-hit opportunity late in the game but grounded out.

Relief corps

Good news for San Diego: almost all of the high-leverage guys are available.

The only one of those to be used last night was righty David Morgan. Beyond him, Wandy Peralta (1.0 IP) and Ron Marinaccio (2.0 IP) were used. The three combined to put up five scoreless innings after Buehler exited the game.

So that leaves Jeremiah Estrada (seeking to rebound after his blow-up on Friday night), Kyle Hart, Bradgley Rodriguez, Adrian Morejon and closer Mason Miller.

Miller’s only been used to close games, and the Friars have only entered the ninth with the lead once (March 28). They’ll seek to give him a lead he can work with tomorrow night.

Texas Rangers lineup for March 31, 2026 against the Baltimore Orioles: starting pitchers are Jacob deGrom for the Rangers and Zach Eflin for the Orioles.

Texas looks to extend their winning streak to four games this afternoon. Josh Jung, who has started the season on an 0 for 17 streak, is on the bench. Ezequiel Duran is starting at third base.

Lineup:

Nimmo — RF

Langford — LF

Seager — SS

Burger — 1B

Pederson — DH

Smith — 2B

Jansen — C

Carter — CF

Duran — 2B

5:35 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -130 favorites.

The New York Yankees are off to as good a start as you can ask for in the 2026 Major League Baseball season. After a series sweep of the San Francisco Giants on the road, they travel up the west coast and play the Seattle Mariners for a three-game series before a day off and their first home series of the year against the Miami Marlins.

With the strong start and some excellent performances from the necessary players to steer this ship toward a World Series, there was certainly some optimism among the Yankees fanbase coming out of opening weekend (also with the understanding that the Giants are a team still trying to find their footing in the National League West). However, according to a recent article in The Athletic, Yankees fans were generally less optimistic about the 2026 season and its potential results. In fact, they were about as optimistic as a few teams firmly within the rebuild territory.

More than 11,000 fans participated in our fifth annual MLB Hope-O-Meter.

Overall, 72 percent reported they are optimistic about their favorite team this season, compared to 66 percent in 2025. pic.twitter.com/ywvrqQAsGs

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 30, 2026

The first observation from the optimism survey is precisely that: the Yankees, a team that tied for first in the American League East with 94 wins and made it to the American League Divisional Series (even though that’s not nearly the standard that has been set), are sandwiched by the Chicago White Sox, who finished last year with 102 losses — the second-most in all of MLB — and the Miami Marlins, who finished four games below the .500 mark. They’re also only three spots higher than the St. Louis Cardinals, who finished six games under .500 last year and have made it pretty clear that they’re in rebuild territory.

Suffice to say, for a team that finished with such a good placement in the standings last year and had a legitimate chance of making it back to the World Series, it was unexpected to see them surrounded by those other franchises.

Below are the Yankees’ finishes in the “Hope-O-Meter” polls in other seasons and how their final results turned out.

2025: 68.1 percent (17); 94-68, T-1st in AL East, lost in ALDS to Toronto Blue Jays
2024: 80.7 percent (11); 94-68, 1st in AL East, lost in World Series to Los Angeles Dodgers
2023: 71.1 percent (18); 82-80, 4th in AL East, Did not make playoffs
2022: 48 percent (21); 99-63, 1st in AL East, lost in ALCS to Houston Astros

Within these results there is a little bit of correlation here — the highest finishing year being the year where they made it to the World Series, the third-highest being when the team tied for first and made it to the ALDS — but the other two years showcase that just because the fans aren’t optimistic doesn’t mean that the plan of attack will or won’t work out. Yankees fans in 2022 finished 21st (one spot above where they are for 2026) and made it to the ALCS after winning the division with 99 wins. The year following, they finished 18th and went almost .500.

While the Yankees did take a more unpopular approach to the offseason moves they made this winter, it’s important to note that it’s a lot easier to look at your house and say it’s burning when you’re looking for every tiny ember versus not looking nearly as closely at all the other houses around you that are burning or have the potential to do so. And, of course, it’s important to remember that the entire attitude around the Yankees organization is “championship or bust.” It’s a noble concept in practice. Everyone wants their sports franchise to be run that way. But it can provide a bit of a “rose colored glasses” view of how a team operates relative to the others around it.

The Hope-O-Meter is not a predictor of results, and it never has been. Instead, it’s more of a fun experiment done by an outlet that lets fans voice their feelings (good or bad) about where they believe their franchise is heading into the season. And while Yankees fans were clearly not thrilled with how things were handled over the offseason and heading into the regular season, there’s a reason they play the games.

The Braves will be going for the series win against the A’s behind Jose Suarez, in a matchup of fringy starting pitchers with the opportunity to give Chris Sale a chance to secure a sweep tomorrow. The Braves are running with what is probably their best possible lineup on true talent available on the active roster, facing the righty in Civale, as Mike Yastrzemski bats fifth and plays left field. Walt Weiss continues to be comfortable stacking Baldwin and Olson at 2 and 3 in the lineup, despite them both being lefties. At the back of the lineup, Dominic Smith rejoins the lineup at DH and Mauricio Dubon plays shortstop once again.

Today’s starter: José Suarez 🔥

📻: @680TheFan
📷: @BravesVisionTV | @BravesOnGray#BravesCountrypic.twitter.com/2dKTKM3RMi

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) March 31, 2026

On the other side, the A’s shuffled their lineup a bit, as Nick Kurtz drops to third and Jacob Wilson takes the leadoff spot. Former Braves first round pick Shea Langeliers catches for the A’s and bats second.

Today's lineup ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/3M3DhnAQGk

— Athletics (@Athletics) March 31, 2026

Tonight’s game is on BravesVision and Gray TV at 7:15 PM ET. This may be a game high in runs scored, given the pitching matchup and offensive talent, so let’s hope the Braves can bring the lumber.